BHUBANESWAR: An intense spell of rain lashed the Capital region on Saturday disrupting normal life and traffic in parts of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri.
The heavy showers that continued from morning to noon made life tough for the commuters.
A 'Mo Bus' (My or Our Bus -- a city bus service) en-route from Jatni to Bhubaneswar ended up being partially submerged in a waterlogged underpass on the city outskirts.
The bus remained stuck on the flooded road in Jatni. Locals rescued all the passengers. The bus was driven away only after the water level receded.
Similarly, traffic came to a grinding halt in front of the Iskcon temple in Nayapalli for nearly an hour as stormwater flooded the service road on National Highway (NH) - 16 forcing the Commissionerate Police to divert traffic from CRP square.
Vehicles were also seen wading through waterlogged stretches in Nayapalli, Jaydev Vihar, Janpath and Bomikhal in the Capital.
Many low-lying areas of the city including Satya Vihar and Jagannath Nagar reported waterlogging.
Apart from Bhubaneswar, heavy rain also pounded Cuttack and Puri affecting normal life.
Vehicular movement was affected on the Grand road in Puri as incessant rain flooded the entire stretch with knee-deep water.
Meanwhile, the situation is likely to persist as IMD has predicted an increase in rainfall in the state over the next few days due to the possible formation of a low-pressure in Bay of Bengal from August 7 onwards.