Odisha: 27 districts staring at drought, says IMD

BHUBANESWAR: About 27 of Odisha’s 30 districts on Sunday joined the list of places with rain deficiency as the monsoon system remained weak for the large part of this month, triggering fears of a drought-like situation, an IMD report said.
It added that the rain deficit in five of these districts stood at 40% and above from June to date. Jajpur topped the table with 54% less than normal rainfall. Bhadrak witnessed 50% less rain, Balangir 43%, Keonjhar 42% and Angul 40%.
The overall average rainfall deficit in the state touched 30% compared to normal, the report said.
The IMD’s fresh bulletin said there would be light to moderate rain only at a few places for the next two days from Monday owing to a subdued monsoon system. Thereafter, thunderstorm activities would cause rain at some more places, with chances of heavy rain at isolated places.
Umashankar Das, scientist of the regional IMD centre in the city, said, “There would be a slight increase in rainfall activities in the state after two to three days.” He also indicated that there would be a possibility of more rain from August 28 to September 1 or 2.