A two-year-old girl has died and many others have been impacted due to heavy rain in Odisha, which has heightened fears of flooding in the Baitarani River, officials reported on Monday.
The deceased, identified as Chandini Munda, lost her life when a wall collapsed in the Thakurmunda area of Mayurbhanj district on Sunday night.
“The girl was sleeping in a dilapidated house with her mother. While two others managed to escape, the little girl perished,” stated Tushar Ranjan Nayak, the inspector-in-charge at Thakurmunda police station.
In a separate incident, a 45-year-old man named Suresh Maharana went missing after being swept away by a sudden surge of water in a drainage channel in Bagdihipada, located on the outskirts of Sambalpur, on Sunday night.
“Two individuals were trying to cross the channel on a motorcycle when rainwater surged through with immense force. One man was rescued, while the other remains missing,” explained Siddheshwar Baliram Bondar, the Collector of Sambalpur district.
Several residents of Sambalpur town were evacuated and provided shelter as heavy rainfall flooded their homes. A free kitchen service was established for approximately 270 affected individuals in the district.
Reports of water-logging have emerged from nearly all urban areas, including Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. A Revenue Department official noted that the incessant rain has disrupted daily life across both urban and rural regions, with submerged roads hindering vehicle movement.
Authorities in many urban centers are utilizing pumps to drain rainwater from low-lying areas, according to the official.
Heavy rainfall in the upper and middle catchment areas of the Baitarani River has raised the risk of minor flooding in low-lying regions of Jajpur and Bhadrak districts.
Dillip Kumar Rout, the engineer-in-chief of the Water Resources Department, indicated that the river is anticipated to exceed danger levels, prompting an alert for downstream areas.
The Water Resources Department reported that the Baitarani basin has received 73 mm of rain. While Odisha experienced a 47% rainfall deficit in June, it recorded 327.3 mm of rainfall in July, surpassing the normal average of 271.6 mm.
“Although water levels have risen in all rivers, none have yet crossed the danger threshold. The Baitarani River may reach dangerous levels at Akhuapada, but there is some relief as the rain has subsided, potentially minimizing damage,” stated Suresh Pujari, Odisha’s Revenue and Disaster Management Minister.
Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, the Special Relief Commissioner, affirmed that the state government has implemented necessary measures to address the situation.
“We have prepared boats and polythene sheets and stationed rescue teams in vulnerable areas. Additionally, dry food and medical supplies have been stockpiled for emergencies,” Patil added.
While the Mahanadi river system is not facing similar issues, authorities may release water from the Hirakud Dam on July 9 due to increased inflow, which is expected to reach around two lakh cusecs by Tuesday.
Pujari mentioned that all district collectors have been put on alert in light of the IMD’s forecast predicting continued rainfall until Tuesday.
As a precaution, several district administrations announced the closure of educational institutions due to the heavy rains. Schools and colleges in Cuttack, Kandhamal, Sambalpur, Sonepur, and Bargarh districts have been shut down.
Meanwhile, the IMD reported in its evening bulletin that the depression over southern Jharkhand and adjacent northern interior Odisha has moved west-northwest at a speed of 25 km/h over the past six hours.
The system is currently located approximately 40 km east-southeast of Jashpurnagar (Chhattisgarh), 100 km west-southwest of Ranchi (Jharkhand), 110 km south-southeast of Daltonganj (Jharkhand), and 120 km east of Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh). It is likely to continue moving northwest across Jharkhand, north Chhattisgarh, and nearby regions of eastern Uttar Pradesh and eastern Madhya Pradesh within the next 24 hours.
The IMD has issued an ‘orange’ warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall in the districts of Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Sonepur, Nuapada, and Bolangir, while a ‘yellow’ warning has been issued for heavy rainfall in the districts of Angul, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Boudh, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, and Nabarangpur.
However, Manorama Mohanty, Director of the Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar, indicated that the intensity of rainfall is expected to diminish across the state on Tuesday.
According to the IMD, 12 locations in the state recorded over 200 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours, with Sonepur experiencing the highest at 328.4 mm.
The IMD has also advised fishermen to refrain from venturing into the Bay of Bengal along the Odisha-West Bengal coast until July 7.
