By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, August 17, 2022: The Meteorological Department on Wednesday issued a yellow warning in 20 districts in Odisha for Thursday and an orange alert for Friday. Very heavy rains are predicted in several districts, even as over 1.5 lakh people are standard in 237 villages.

The flood situation in the state’s Mahanadi channel persisted dire on Wednesday, as river water continued to rise due to heavy showers caused by a depression over the previous week. The first flood of the season has affected over 2.5 lakh people in at least 1,400 villages across ten districts, with over 27,000 people evacuated and relocated to temporary shelters.

Floods have affected over 250,000 people across Odisha’s 10 districts as heavy rainfall in the upper and lower catchment areas of the Mahanadi swelled the river and led to breaches in embankments.

Special relief commissioner P K Jena said around 24,000 hectares of farmland has been marooned. “Out of the 64 sluice gates of the Hirakud Dam, 40 have been opened…The peak flood has passed and we are keeping a close watch on the developing situation. We have stationed 18 teams of ODRAF [Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force] and NDRF [National Disaster Response Force] and 44 teams of fire personnel for rescue operations,” said Jena.

The flood situation in the state may worsen by the weekend with the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre in a bulletin on Wednesday warning about the development of a new low-pressure area, which is the third in the past overnight. The weather system is set to form over the north Bay of Bengal under the influence of a cyclonic circulation, which lies over south Myanmar.

Twenty districts including Cuttack, Puri, and Khurda are expected to receive heavy rain of 65-116 mm on Thursday. The department issued an orange alert of a very heavy downpour of 116-204 mm in 17 districts which include Cuttack, Kendrapara, and Sambalpur, on Friday. Heavy showers are expected for the rest of the 13 districts on the day.

Very heavy rain in Kalahandi and seven other districts in western Odisha on Saturday, as well as heavy rain in nine other districts. The government has advised fishermen not to venture into the sea in the north and west central Bay of Bengal on Friday and off the coast on Saturday because stormy weather with wind speeds of 45-55 km/h is predicted over the region, according to officials.