Bhubaneswar: Sixteen districts in Odisha are likely to experience heavy to very heavy rain from May 28-30 under the influence of the low-pressure area, formed over the north-west Bay of Bengal off the Odisha coast, MeT department officials said on Tuesday. These districts are Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Angul, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Khurda, Cuttack, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Nayagarh and Ganjam.
There is also a possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall in the catchment region of Baitarani, Subarnarekha and Budhabalang rivers, the bulletin said adding that widespread rain might favour onset of the southwest monsoon over Odisha by Thursday. The officials stated that the system may intensify into a depression on Thursday. “There might be a dry period accompanied by rise in temperature between June 1 and 3 after which the rainfall is expected to increase,” it added.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier said that the southwest monsoon is likely to advance into some parts of Odisha during the next 2-3 days. It further stated that the low pressure may move slowly northwards and become more marked during the next 48 hours, triggering heavy to very heavy rain in Odisha till May 31. The Odisha government has already put the collectors of all the districts on alert and asked them to remain prepared to deal with the heavy rainfall. “The districts under orange and yellow warnings should keep administrative machinery ready to face any eventuality, while people may be advised to keep watch on the weather and take safe shelter during the thunderstorm activity to protect from lightning,” the letter issued by Special Relief Commissioner’s office said.
