IMD forecasts heavy rainfall in Odisha till Jul 20

Bhubaneswar, Jul 16 (PTI) The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday forecast heavy rainfall across Odisha in the next four days.
    In a bulletin, IMD’s Bhubaneswar centre said heavy rainfall (7 to 11 cm) is expected in Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Kalahandi and Koraput on Wednesday due to a low-pressure area formed over south Odisha and neighbourhood.
    Some places in Gajapati, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Puri, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Rayagada, Koraput and Nabarangpur districts are likely to witness downpours on Thursday, it said.
    Another low-pressure area is likely to be formed around July 19.
    The weather office also forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in several districts on Friday and Saturday.
    In view of the heavy rainfall forecast, the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) of the Odisha government asked all "collectors to keep administrative machinery ready to face any eventuality".
    As low-lying areas in cities may face waterlogging, the SRC advised the collectors to "keep drains de-congested and deploy pumps as per the need".
    From June 1 till Tuesday, the state has recorded a cumulative rainfall of 272.6 mm against its normal value of 370.9 mm.
    During the period, 13 districts received normal rainfall while it was largely deficient in Balasore.
    The remaining 16 districts were in the deficient category, according to the IMD centre.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)