Odisha may receive fresh rains from Sunday: MeT

After a brief dry spell, Odisha is likely to receive a fresh bout of rainfall from Sunday, with another low pressure taking shape over the Bay of Bengal.

A fresh low-pressure area, likely to form over northwest Bay of Bengal by around Monday, may trigger rainfall of varied intensity in different parts of Odisha, an official of the Meteorological Centre here said on Saturday.

Districts such as Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundergarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh and Kendrapara are likely to receive heavy rainfall on Sunday, he said.

While light to moderate rain or thundershower is likely to lash most areas in Odisha, heavy rain may occur in some places in the districts of Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Deogarh, Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal, Sambalpur, Jajpur and Bhadrak from Monday morning, the MeT centre said in a bulletin.

Similarly, heavy rainfall may pound some places in Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Nuapada, Bolangir, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Nabarangpur and Koraput districts on Tuesday and Wednesday, it said.

The MeT centre has cautioned that sea condition may be rough to very rough under the impact of the low pressure and advised fishermen not to venture into the sea along and off the Odisha coast on Sunday and Monday.

A deep depression which traversed the Odisha-West Bengal coast recently had wreaked havoc in around nine districts in south and west Odisha, triggering a flood-like situation in many areas.

The torrential rains claimed at least four human lives -- one each in the districts of Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput and Malkangiri -- besides affecting around 1.77 lakh people in 1,035 villages in the nine districts, an official said.

Normalcy has returned to these districts after water receded from the submerged areas.

Following the torrential rains, the quantum of rainfall deficit in Odisha, which had mounted to 26 per cent last month, has now dropped to nine per cent, a MeT official said, adding the overall rainfall deficit may further get reduced after the fresh downpour.

Barring some districts such as Balasore, Angul and Deogarh, other districts in the state have recorded normal rainfall this monsoon so far, he said.