Heavy rains cause landslide in Odisha's Gajapati; watch on Hirakud dam

BHUBANESWAR/BERHAMPUR: Over 200 mm of rain that pounded Gajapati in the last 24 hours triggered landslides besides caused flash floods in neighbouring districts of the State. The incessant rains led to landslides in Bangdising village under Badakalakote panchayat in Gajapati. At least one house was damaged in the village. Roads are being cleared by JCB machine to reach the village. Gumma Tehsildar is supervising the restoration work, said Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena on Sunday.

Similarly, landslides took place in the Parimala panchayat under the Nuagada block in Gajapati. It left road communication affected between Nuagada and Gunupur as boulders fell on the roads from the hills. In the neighbouring Rayagada district, two youths were left stranded on a rock in the Nagavali river due to a sudden rise in the water level. Odisha Fire Service personnel rushed to the spot and rescued the two who are natives of Kashipur block.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik appreciated the efforts of the firefighters of Rayagada and Kolnara in rescuing the two persons from the swollen river. The Odisha Fire Service personnel also rescued a four-year-old boy after he slipped into Gangua nullah in the State Capital.

In the last 24 hours, the rains led to flooding in parts of the Nayagarh and Malkangiri districts. Nuagada and R Udayagiri in Gajapati district and Tangi in Khurda received extremely heavy showers and recorded 240 mm, 230 mm and 210 mm rainfall respectively. Fifteen other places in Kandhamal, Jajpur, Puri, Nayagarh, Gajapati, Cuttack, Kalahandi and Balangir districts also witnessed very heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours.

The low pressure that caused the pounding showers is now over north Odisha and there is a strong possibility that the system will start weakening within 24 hours. There is no warning for very heavy rainfall in Odisha from Monday onwards, said Director of Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre HR Biswas.

With the rains leading to flash floods, Odisha Government kept a close watch over the situation. The upper catchment in Chhattisgarh also received a good amount of rain on Saturday night. With Hirakud Dam’s water level reaching 611.58 ft on Sunday, a close watch is being kept on the Mahanadi river, he added.