Bhubaneswar: Normal life was disrupted in most parts of Odisha due to heavy rainfall during the last 24 hours under the influence of a low pressure over Bay of Bengal.
People in Sambalpur city had a torrid time due to extremely heavy rainfall. As per a Met department release, the city recorded a whopping 240 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours. Reports said rainwater has entered into houses in the low lying areas in Nuapada slum, Housing Board Colony, Mudipada, Jagannath Colony and Khetrajpur forcing the people to come out. At some places in these areas, household articles have been found floating on rainwater.
Reports from Malkangiri district said the water level of all rivers and tributaries are on the rise due to incessant heavy rains since yesterday.
Road communication between Kalimela and MV-79 has been disrupted with four feet high water flowing over Kankarkonda and MV-90 bridges.
There is a possibility of disruption in road communication to several other places in the district if the rain continues for the next 48 hours, the reports added.
In Keonjhar, students of a private school staged a road blockade after rainwater entered the classrooms and disrupted their studies.
Residents of the twin city of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar also bore the brunt of heavy rains.
In Cuttack, rainwater flooded Badambadi, Pattapola, Meria Bazar, Khan Nagar, Roxy Lane and Bajrakabati areas where people were seen walking in knee-deep water. The plight of passengers at the Badambadi bus stand was miserable.
Due to heavy rains, there was thin attendance in almost all educational institutions in the city.
To evacuate stagnant rainwater, the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) authorities have engaged 200 motor pumps while high voltage pumps have been engaged in the worst affected areasofn Bajrakabati, Matru Bhawan and Matagajapur.
Similar conditions were noticed in Bhubaneswar where rainwater entered houses in the low lying areas of Acharya Vihar, Jayadev Vihar, Nayapalli, Bomikhal and Laxmisagar.