Odisha on high alert as IMD warns of heavy rain till October 5

The Odisha government has put all districts on high alert after heavy rains lashed large parts of the state, following the intensification of a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal into a depression, officials said on Wednesday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the well-marked low-pressure area over the west-central Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards, concentrating into a depression,a precursor to a cyclonic storm that brings heavy rainfall and strong winds.

Several districts have already experienced downpours due to the developing weather system. For October 1, the IMD predicted light to moderate rainfall across all 30 districts, with heavy rainfall (7-11 cm) expected in Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, and Nabarangpur.

For October 2, the IMD issued a ‘Red’ warning of over 20 cm of rain for Puri and Jagatsinghpur, an ‘Orange’ warning (7-20 cm) for 14 districts, and a ‘Yellow’ warning (7-11 cm) for the remaining districts.

The state government has instructed all district collectors to keep personnel and machinery ready to handle water-logging, flash floods, landslides, and other rain-related emergencies. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea along and off the Odisha coast from October 1 to October 3.

The IMD bulletin warned of squally winds of 40-50 kmph, gusting to 60 kmph, over central and adjoining north Bay of Bengal on October 1. Wind speeds are expected to rise to 55–65 kmph, gusting up to 75 kmph, over west-central and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal from October 2 noon to October 3 early morning. Ports in Odisha have been advised to hoist ‘Local Cautionary Signal No-III’ (LC-3).

The depression is currently centered about 400 km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam, 420 km south-southeast of Gopalpur, 450 km south of Puri, and 500 km south of Paradip. It is expected to intensify further into a deep depression and cross Odisha and adjoining Andhra Pradesh coasts between Gopalpur and Paradip during the early morning of October 3, according to Manorama Mohanty, Director of the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar.

IMD scientist U S Das noted on X that rainfall in Odisha continued even a day after the official end of the annual monsoon season on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in Cuttack, a 30-feet decorative gate erected near Ravenshaw University for Durga Puja celebrations partially collapsed due to heavy rain, causing no injuries. Authorities have regulated traffic and pedestrian movement in the area following the incident.