Heavy rains predicted in nine districts

Rains triggered by a low pressure would lash parts of the State for next 12 hours, predicted the Regional Office of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) here on Thursday.

An alert to this effect was issued for the district of Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Mayurbhanj, Baleswar, Bhadrak, Sundargarh, Nayagarh, Ganjam and Gajapati.

Fishermen were warned by the weather office not to venture into sea because of the strong winds.

On Thursday, it rained intermittently in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. Rains also lashed Puri, where devotees were seen holding umbrellas to witness the divine bath of Lord Jagannath and His siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra on the occasion of Snana Purnima.

On Wednesday, while tourists had to face hardship in the premises of the Konark temple due to waterlogging, many parts of the twin cities were flooded bringing misery to the residents and the commuters.

While it rained 64.2 mm in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack received 12 mm of rainfall till 8.30 am on the day. However, Bhubaneswar and its neighbourhood would generally have cloudy sky with moderate rain on Friday, the IMD said.

The weather office forecasted that the rains would lessen from Saturday.