Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s urban authorities have been placed on high alert following the formation of a low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining West Bengal–North Odisha coasts.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall over Odisha, with isolated extremely heavy rainfall expected on August 16 and 17.
In its 24-hour observation bulletin, the IMD reported that very heavy rainfall was recorded over Odisha, East Rajasthan, East Uttar Pradesh and West Uttar Pradesh between 0830 hrs IST on August 15 and 0830 hrs IST on August 16.
Responding to the alert, Additional Chief Secretary of the Housing & Urban Development Department, Usha Padhee, directed all urban local bodies to remain on high alert and ensure a prompt, coordinated and citizen-centric response to any emerging situation.
She instructed officials to keep personnel, machinery and equipment in full readiness and to ensure that rapid response teams stay active in the field.
She further directed the authorities to seek assistance from the department and district administrations wherever required and to ensure close inter-agency coordination for effective ground-level response.
Padhee emphasised that any issue reported from the field should be addressed immediately and on priority, with particular focus on minimising inconvenience to citizens.
As a confidence-building measure, she directed urban authorities to proactively communicate their preparedness and field actions through regular press briefings and social media updates, while keeping the department informed of the situation and the actions being taken.
According to the IMD’s all-India seven-day weather warning, Gangetic West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand will also see heavy to very heavy rainfall under the influence of the low-pressure system over the next two days.
Isolated extremely heavy rainfall has been forecast for Gangetic West Bengal on August 17.
Extremely heavy rainfall was observed at isolated places over East Madhya Pradesh, while heavy rainfall was recorded over Assam, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, West Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Maharashtra during the same period.
Elsewhere, the IMD has forecast isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over the western Himalayan region during most days of the week and over Uttar Pradesh for the next three to four days.
