Rain throws life out of gear in Odisha

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, Sep 6: Heavy rainfall in most parts of Odisha during the past 10 days has thrown normal life out of gear.The situation has turned worse with rain continuing to lash coastal Odisha under the influence of a low pressure area formed over North Bay of Bengal off West Bengal-Bangladesh coast.According to the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre, extremely heavy rainfall would occur at some places over interior Odisha and coastal Odisha till September 8.Rainfall was likely to decrease from September 9, according to the Centre.The weather office said that gusty wind with speed reaching 45 to 55 km per hours gusting to 65 km may prevail along and off Odisha coast.Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea.On the other hand, life has been thrown out of gear for thousands of people living in the low lying areas of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri.The situation in rural areas was equally worse as water logging in vast stretches of paddy fields forced the farmers to stay from their fields.Even though flood situation has not arisen in any of the major rivers due to less rain in the upper catchments, rainwater had inundated paddy fields in most of the coastal districts.