Road communication snapped, houses damaged as heavy rain lashes Odisha

Road communications were snapped, several houses were damaged and many areas remained inundated as low pressure-induced heavy rain continues to lash different parts of Odisha on Sunday.

A temporary diversion road was made at Phasimala village under Kuchinda block in Sambalpur district as the construction of a bridge over Saradhapali river was underway. However, the diversion has been completely inundated due to the heavy rain. As a result, road communication towards Sambalpur has been snapped.

“Road communication to Sambalpur has been snapped as the diversion at Phasimala has been completely inundated due to incessant rain. We are facing lots of hardships,” said Bhakti Chhatria, a local resident.

Similarly, road communication has been snapped near Akulikalima bridge as the diversion near the bridge under Telkoi block in Keonjhar district has been completely washed out.

Water is overflowing on the Ghurudia canal bridge due to the heavy outpour. Samakoi river and other canals are overflowing with rain water.

Some houses have collapsed in Bolangir district because of the torrential rain. Chakradhar Mahananda’s house in Mandala village under Belapada block in the district collapsed due to the heavy downpour. Luckily, all the family members of Mahananda ran away to safer places in the nick of time and nobody sustained any kind of injury.

“Our house collapsed due to the heavy rain yesterday. Luckily we got a narrow escape. Now we are facing a lot of trouble without having a roof over our head,” said Mahananda.

The State has recorded 27.3 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours which is 205 per cent more than the normal rainfall. Deogarh district experienced the highest rainfall of 106.3 mm.

Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange warning to 13 districts for heavy to very heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours. These districts are Sonepur, Boudh, Bolangir, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Deogarh, Angul, Keonjhar, Nuapada, Bargarh, Sundargarh, Kalahandi and Kandhamal.