With 27 districts in Odisha already heading towards drought-like situation, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of any significant rainfall activity in the State till the end of August.
In an exclusive interview to OTV, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said though several parts of Odisha received rainfall on August 15, the intensity of rainfall activity decreased due to the weakening of the low pressure system which had brought the clouds.
“The low pressure induced rainfall was limited to two to three days as the system weakened. This led to deficient rainfall in Odisha. The overall rainfall deficit stands at 33 percent from June 1 till today in the State,” said Mohapatra.
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According to Mohapatra, Odisha has so far witnessed a deficit of 55 percent rainfall for August.
“Odisha is one of the states which receive maximum rainfall under the impact of low pressure systems over the Bay of Bengal. Every year, around 13 low pressure systems develop and trigger rain in Odisha. Apart from Nuapada, Koraput and Malkangiri, 27 districts in the State have so far recorded deficit rainfall,” said Mohapatra.
There will be no noticeable change in the scarcity situation in the State as there are no possibilities of formation of low pressure system in the next five days.
“Nothing can be said right now whether the situation will improve for Odisha in September. We will issue our forecast by August 31 or September first week,” Mohapatra added.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government on Monday prepared a comprehensive action plan to tackle any emerging drought situation in the State.
The Chief Secretary of the State has approved an emergency action plan to be implemented across the State in the next 10 days depending on the rainfall situation.
The State government has planned to activate lift irrigation points at places worst-hit by shortage of rainfall. Other irrigation facilities will also be set into motion at all Pani Panchayats, official sources said.