Rains pound Orissa: National Highway at Dharmagarh in Kalahandi district remained submerged

Heavy rains pound Orissa; toll climbs to 36
The Hindu, July 29, 2009

Bhubaneswar (PTI): Eight more persons died on Sunday taking the toll to 36 as heavy rains lashed Orissa with a low pressure over Bay of Bengal triggering floods in several parts.

While two persons were swept away by Rana river in Banki area of Cuttack district, two others including a woman were killed in lightning in Kendrapara district, official sources said.

A girl was killed in Kabisuryanagar of Ganjam district when a tree fell on her during rain and storm, they said.

Three persons -- an infant and two women -- were killed when a wall of their mud house collapsed in the heavy rain at Sarumuhana in Sundargarh district, police said.

Mahanadi, Bansadhara, Rushikulya and Hati rivers inundated many areas and disrupted road communication in Sambalpur, Balangir, Gajapati, Ganjam and Kalahandi districts, the sources said.

Heavy rains pounded Ganjam, Gajapati, Nayagarh, Khurda, Cuttack, Kendrapara and Puri districts since last night inundating vast low lying areas and throwing life out of gear, they said.

Normal life was thrown out of gear in many areas of western Orissa including Balangir, Bargarh, Sambalpur and Sonepur due to heavy rains since last night which inundated low lying areas, the official sources said.

In Balangir town, most roads were under two to three feet water and the National Highway at Dharmagarh in Kalahandi district also remained submerged.

Power supply was also disrupted in most parts of western Orissa as heavy rains continued to wreak havoc.

In Ganjam district of south Orissa, road link between Bhanjanagar-Belaguntha and Bhanjanagar-Daspalla was disrupted as Badanadi river submerged the road at Nuagaon.

Inflow of water Hirakud reservoir on Mahanadi river was recorded at 1,50,794 cusec and outflow 1,24,719 cusec, the revenue control room officials said.

The rainfall recorded at Krushnaprasad since last night was 28 cm, while it was 26 cm at Khandapara, 19 cm at Puri, 17 cm at Narsinghpur and 16 cm at Daspalla, met office sources said.

As a "well-marked" low pressure area was formed over north-west Bay of Bengal, the met office predicted heavy to very heavy rain at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in the next two days.