PURI: A Day ahead of Bahuda Yatra, the Grand Road was inundated with knee-deep rain water for several hours on Saturday. While the entire stretch from Municipal market square to Gundicha temple entrance was under water, the area in front of District Headquarters Hospital was the worst hit.
Saradhabali, where the three chariots have been parked for the return journey of the Trinity, was under one foot storm water. In the last 24 hours, the Met department recorded 322 mm rainfall. Local administration has deployed 12 heavy duty water pumps to drain out water from Saradhabali.
Storm water damaged a portion of the Marine Road near Swargadwar while, boundary walls of a Mutt caved in. The entire venue of the ongoing Pallishree Mela in Puri was under knee-deep water. The situation at slums was worse.
The district administration distributed cooked food to 20,000 affected persons on Saturday. Although rain stopped for a brief period in the afternoon, it started pouring in the evening again. Waterlogging was also reported in Alarnath under Brahmagiri block where rain water entered the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The Sun temple complex at Konark was also under three feet water.