Waterlogging hits life hard in twin cities, Puri

| | BHUBANESWAR/ CUTTACK/ PURI | in Bhubaneswar

Heavy rains since the last 24 hours in several parts of the State threw normal life completely out of gear on Tuesday.

Low-lying areas in almost all regions including the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar remained waterlogged for several hours due to the incessant rains triggered by a low pressure over the northwest Bay of Bengal.

Bhubaneswar recorded 102 mm of rainfall between the evening and midnight of Monday, causing waterlogging at several places like Jayadev Vihar, Nayapalli Behera Sahi,  Paika Nagar,  Jaydurga Nagar, Shastri Nagar and many others places. Rainwater entered houses in the aforesaid areas and other low-lying lanes and by-lanes of the city.

The district administrations of Cuttack and Khordha declared closure of all educational institutions in view of the heavy rains. Vehicular traffic movement was severely hit as rainwater inundated several localities in Cuttack. As many as 190 motor pumps were used to flush out excess water from the low-lying areas.

Puri received the highest rainfall in the last 24 hours at 305 mm. The pilgrim city resembled a vast pond with waist-deep water inundating the Bada Danda near the Shreemandir. Similar were the conditions of the VIP Road and many other localities in the city. A wall surrounding the Indradyumna Tank in the holy city collapsed. While the 50-feet-long wall collapsed on the Gopinath temple side, another wall adjoining the Radhakrushna temple also caved in.

In Nayagarh district’s Daspalla block, a culvert collapsed near Kankadamendhi disrupting communication between Badala and Chakapadar.

A man died and his wife sustained critical injuries after a wall of their house at Bedasahi village in Panchupali panchayat under Ghasipur block in Keonjhar district collapsed.

The Bhubaneswar Regional Meteorological Centre issued a heavy rainfall alert for districts of Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Bhadrak, Baleswar, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh in the next 24 hours.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in Puri, Khordha, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Deogarh and Dhenkanal districts on Wednesday, forecasted the IMD Regional Office.