Monsoon mayhem: Odisha flooded, homes wrecked in Kerala, more rain in Rajasthan

Monsoon continues to wreak havoc in several states in different parts of the country.

While three districts in Odisha reels under a flood-like situation, heavy rain and strong winds in parts of Kerala have caused water levels of various rivers and dams to rise, destroyed homes and disrupted power supply.

And in the west, the desert state of Rajasthan continues to receive massive rain from a depression.

Flood-like situation in Odisha

In Odisha, water from swollen rivers have entered low-lying areas in Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts, creating a flood-like situation. Subarnarekha, Baitarani and Jalka rivers were flowing at or above the danger level, a senior government officer told news agency PTI on Sunday (July 27).

Chandra Sekhar Padhi, engineer-in-chief of the Water Resources Department, told the media that the Baitarani River was flowing at 19.09 metres at 2 am on Sunday, crossing the danger level of 18.33 metres. The river water started showing a declining trend on Sunday morning and was flowing at 18.54 metres. The swollen river caused a flood-like situation in some parts of Bhadrak and Jajpur districts, he said.

Floodwaters entered habitations in Dhamnagar area in Bhadrak district as the water level of Baitarani crossed the danger level, he added. Similarly, the water level in Jalaka River was 6.67 metres at Mathani, against the danger level of 6.50 metres. However, the water has started showing a declining trend, he said.

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No risk of major flood

The Subarnarekha River was flowing at 10.2 metres against the danger level of 10.36 metres at Rajghat in Balasore district. “We expect the water level to rise to 11.4 metres by Sunday night. Bhogari, Baliapal, Basta, and Jaleswar blocks of Balasore district would be affected by floodwaters due to the rise in water level,” he said.

Padhi ruled out the possibility of any major flood situation in the state as the amount of rainfall in the state has dipped. Not a single block has received over 50 mm of rainfall on Saturday, he added.

In a statement, the government said people residing in low-lying areas have been taken to safe locations by the district administrations. The collectors of Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore have been alerted to expedite the evacuation and relief operation as and when required to handle the local flood situation, the statement said.

Landslide cuts off highway

A state flood cell in the Department of Water Resources is functioning 24/7 and the situation is being closely monitored. Two chief engineer rank officers have been deputed to the Subarnarekha and Baitarani river basins to monitor the situation on the ground, it said.

Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj inspected various sites of Baitarani embankment in Bhadrak district, while Jajpur collector and other senior officials have inspected the vulnerable locations at Nuapatna of Dasarathpur block.

A breach on the right bank of Jambhira River embankment at Bodhi in Rasgovindpur block of Mayurbhanj district was detected. The breach was closed with sandbags, the statement said.

In view of heavy rainfall, a landslide occurred in Sundargarh district, blocking the Koida-Chunaghati stretch of NH-520. Upon receiving information about the landslide, the department concerned removed the debris from the blocked section and cleared the highway, officials added.

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Alerts in Kerala

In Kerala, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an “orange alert” in three districts — Idukki, Kannur and Kasaragod — for the day and a “yellow alert” in six other districts.

An orange alert denotes “very heavy” rainfall of 11 to 20 cm, while a yellow alert signals “heavy rain” between 6 and 11 cm.

Meanwhile, state Revenue Minister K Rajan said that though there was heavy rainfall and strong winds in Kerala during the last few days, causing minor landslides and uprooting of trees in various parts of the state, the intensity of rains is expected to reduce from Sunday onwards.

“The strong winds might persist for a couple more days,” he added.

Shutters of dams opened

In Wayanad district, shutters of the Banasura Sagar dam were opened around 85 cm in the morning to release around 100 cusecs (Cubic feet per second) of water in view of heavy rains in its catchment area, the district administration said.

It warned people living on the banks of the river downstream and other low-lying areas to be cautious.

In Pathanamthitta district, all three shutters of the Moozhiyar reservoir were opened to release water as its levels rose above the “red alert” mark of 190 metres.

Houses destroyed

The rains and strong winds in the south Kerala district damaged more than 100 houses, leading to several families being moved to relief camps.

Relief camps were also opened in Wayanad district and around 30 families have been relocated there, the district administration said.

The Irrigation Design and Research Board (IDRB) issued “flood warning alerts” in respect of Manimala, Pamba and Achankovil rivers in Pathanamthitta, Muvattupuzha, Kaliyar and Periyar in Ernakulam, Pallikkal in Kollam and Vamanapuram in Thiruvananthapuram district of the state.

Also read: Heavy rains batter north Kerala; landslide stalls traffic on Bengaluru-Mangaluru NH

Fishermen warned

It also issued alerts with regard to Bharathappuzha and Chalakudy rivers in Thrissur, Thodupuzha in Idukki, Bhavani in Palakkad, Korappuzha in Kozhikode, Valapattanam in Kannur and Kabani in Wayanad district of Kerala.

It warned people living on the banks of these rivers to be vigilant and be prepared to move to safer places if required.

The IMD also warned fishermen against carrying out fishing activities along the Kerala-Lakshadweep coasts from July 27 to July 29 and along the Karnataka coast from July 27 to July 31 in view of bad weather and strong winds.

A similar warning to fishermen was issued by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) in view of the likelihood of sea surges and high waves of 2.9 to 3.2 meters along the Kannur-Kasaragod coast from 5.30 pm on July 27 to 2.30 am on July 28.

Heavy showers in Rajasthan

Meanwhile, a well-marked low pressure area, which had weakened from a depression over Madhya Pradesh, is currently situated over north-central parts of Rajasthan, causing widespread rainfall in the state, the Meteorological Centre in Jaipur said on Saturday.

Several areas including Pali, Chittorgarh and Baran witnessed rains on Sunday. Heavy rains that lasted almost two hours flooded roads in Sadari area of Pali.

Due to the impact of the low pressure, several districts including Kota, Udaipur, Jaipur, Bharatpur and Jodhpur ”recorded heavy to very heavy rainfall over the last 24 hours. Kushalgarh in Banswara reported the highest rainfall of 136 mm.

More rain predicted

The Met centre had predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in parts of Udaipur, Kota, Ajmer, Jodhpur and Jaipur divisions on Sunday, with the possibility of extremely heavy showers at isolated places in Kota and Udaipur divisions.

It has predicted that on Monday, parts of Bharatpur, Kota and Udaipur divisions may witness heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, while Jaipur, Ajmer and Jodhpur divisions are likely to receive heavy showers.

On July 29 and 30, Bharatpur, Jaipur and Ajmer divisions are expected to see spells of heavy to very heavy rainfall, while Bikaner division may experience moderate to heavy rain at a few places, the Met centre added.

(With agency inputs)