BHUBANESWAR: A depression formed over Bay of Bengal on Monday which could trigger very heavy rainfall and lead to flood-like situation in the state, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The national weather forecaster said a low pressure area formed over Bay of Bengal on Sunday evening. It intensified into a well-marked low pressure area in the wee hours of Monday and then into a depression over south-east Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh later in the day. It is likely to move west-northwestwards across Gangetic West Bengal during the next 24 hours.
Under the influence of the system, Mandira dam near Kansbahal in Sundargarh district received extremely heavy showers and recorded 220 mm rains in the last 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on the day. The IMD further predicted that very heavy rainfall (115.6 mm to 204.4 mm) to extremely heavy rainfall (204.5 mm or more) may occur in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts between Monday and Tuesday morning.
Heavy to very heavy rain (64.5 mm to 204.4 mm), thunderstorm, lightning and gusty surface wind speeds reaching 30 kmph to 40 kmph is likely to occur at Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Sambalpur and Jharsuguda districts on Tuesday, while Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Angul, Deogarh, Bargarh, Sonepur, Boudh, Balangir and Nuapada districts may experience heavy rainfall (64.5 mm to 115.5 mm) during the period.
IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said depression-induced rains during the monsoon season usually trigger flood-like situations in Odisha. “The state has been experiencing intensified rainfall activity in the last 15 to 20 days due to the back-to-back weather systems.
There was a flood in Subarnarekha and Budhabalanga rivers recently. The depression may trigger a flood-like situation in Subarnarekha, Budhabalanga, upper and lower catchment areas of Mahanadi as well in Brahmani and Baitarani rivers,” he added.
Mohapatra further warned that the low-lying areas of the cities experiencing heavy rains may get inundated. He also advised fishermen not to venture into the sea along and off north Odisha, West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts during the next 24 hours.
As squally wind speeds reaching 40 kmph to 50 kmph and gusting up to 60 kmph is likely to prevail in the region, a local cautionary signal -III warning has been hoisted for the ports in the state.