Odisha braces for more rain as over 4.67 lakh remain affected due to floods — IMD issues alert in these states

The situation in Odisha remains grim as the state braces up for a fresh spell of heavy rain on Thursday. Over 4.67 lakh people in 12 districts have reportedly been affected by the flood in the Mahanadi river system. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had earlier asked officers concerned to ensure "zero casualty" in the flood.

Besides Odisha, heavy rainfall is also predicted in other parts of the country on Thursday. Kerala and Tamil Nadu are likely to witness thunderstorms and lightning.

Heavy rainfall is predicted in Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Gajapathi, Ganjam, Khordha, Cuttack, Baragarh, Baleshwar and Puri districts. Meanwhile, an official said that a population of over 2.26 lakh remained marooned in 425 villages, while about 54,000 people have been evacuated and taken to temporary shelters so far.

According to PTI, the flood-hit districts are Angul, Bargarh, Boudh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Khurda, Nayagarh, Puri, Sambalpur and Subarnapur.

With flood water inundating more villages, the state government has deployed more rescue teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and Odisha Fire Service.

There, no major warning in Maharashtra on Thursday. However, light to moderate rainfall is predicted throughout the state.

The storage of Jayakwadi dam in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra has gone up to 95.65 percent as water continues to rise in it due to rains in nearby areas, officials said on Thursday. An alert has been sounded in 16 villages located nearby along the banks of the Godavari river on which the dam in located, Paithan tehsildar (revenue official) Dattatreya Nilawad said.

Its water inflow rose to 70,240 cusecs on Thursday compared to 36,425 cusecs on Wednesday morning. Hence, 18 gates of the dam were lifted to a height of four feet for water discharge, the official said.

"Unless the discharge reaches one lakh cubic foot per second (cusecs), there is no harm to villages located on the river banks. We are keeping a close watch and will take necessary steps if the water level rises further," he said.

A red alert has been issued in Kachch, Banaskantha and Patan, while an orange alert has been sounded in Jamnagar, Junagarh, Rajkot, Bharuch, Mahasena and Surat.

Parts of Bengal is likely to witness heavy rainfall. These areas include Nadia, Hoogly, Paschim Mednipur, Purba Mednipur, South 24 Parganas, and North 24 Parganas.

Light to moderate rainfall/thundershower is likely to occur at a few places in hills and at isolated places in plains with intense showers at isolated places in hills of Uttarakhand.