Showers bring down rain deficit, expect more: IMD

BHUBANESWAR: A low pressure trough over Bay of Bengal brought light to moderate rainfall in most parts of the state, an IMD report said on Wednesday. This will continue for the next two days.
“The rainfall reduced the monsoon rain deficit in the state by six per cent. It stood at 11% on Wednesday. The rain has brought a smile on the faces of the farmers,” the IMD report added. Meanwhile, several low-lying areas were flooded.
The IMD’s latest forecast said the rainfall would gradually reduce by Friday. However, it also said one more fresh low pressure area was likely to develop on Sunday (August 9), which will cause rainfall for another two-three days.
H R Biswas, director of the regional IMD centre, said the rainfall, which would be caused by the fresh low pressure trough, would improve the overall rain trend in the state. He added that the heavy rain improved both the state’s and the districts’ rain deficit situation.
Puri, which had the highest rain deficit among all 30 districts, recorded a sharp fall in the deficit to 20% from 52%. Two more districts — Bhadrak and Keonjhar — also saw a similar improvement.
The IMD director said a total of 11 districts currently faced rain deficit in the state. Jajpur has recorded a rain deficit of over 40 per cent. Biswas added that northern districts and parts of southern Odisha experienced heavy rain in the past 24 hours. He further said the rainfall in the coming days would further improve the rain deficit situation in the state.
The IMD report said Jujumura in Sambalpur district recorded the highest rainfall of 290 mm in the state. It was followed by Khairmal (180mm) and Kantapada (170mm) in Boudh and Sonepur districts. Balangir recorded a rainfall of 38.8 mm during the day.
The state capital too has been experiencing heavy rain of 153 mm since Tuesday, including 3.8 mm of rain on Wednesday. Several low-lying areas were inundated.
On Thursday, there will be light to moderate rain. Thunder showers may occur in many places over northern and in a few places over southern Odisha. There are chances of heavy rain over the districts of Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj.