Woman killed in wall collapse after downpour in Odisha's Kalahandi; Met department predicts more spells of heavy rain in state

Bhubaneswar: An elderly woman was killed and her daughter-in-law seriously injured when a wall of their house collapsed in Kalahandi district, as fresh rains lashed several parts of Odisha on Monday and a threat of flood is looming large, officials said. The state had been pounded by a downpour in the last week too, claiming four lives and affecting at least nine districts in south and west Odisha. With more rainfall likely to occur over the next three days due to a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal, the state government asked the district administrations to be prepared to deal with possible flood, the officials said. [caption id=“attachment_7131881” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of flooding in Odisha following heavy rainfall last week. ANI[/caption] A 70-year-old woman died and her daughter-in-law, 40, injured when a wall of their mud house collapsed in Gosalpada area of Bhawanipatna on Monday afternoon following a downpour, police said. The women were cooking when the wall collapsed. According to the meteorological centre, the low pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal and the adjoining West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts may trigger light to moderate rain or thundershower in most parts of Odisha. Heavy to very heavy rain is expected on Tuesday in north coastal Odisha and other areas in the western and the northern parts of the state, including Mayurbhanj, Sonepur, Keonjhar, Balangir, Bargarh, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Raygada, Nayagarh and Puri districts. Similarly, extremely heavy rainfall is likely to batter parts of Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Kandhamal, Rayagada and Kalahandi districts, the weathermen said. The MeT centre has also forecast heavy to very heavy rain on Tuesday and Wednesday in parts of south interior Odisha and Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Bargarh districts. Heavy rainfall is also likely at isolated places over Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Gajapati, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Khordha, Puri, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Angul and Dhenkanal. Squally weather with wind speed exceeding 45 kilometers per hour is likely to prevail, with sea condition being rough to very rough along and off the Odisha coast, the MeT centre said. Fishermen have been advised against venturing into the sea till Wednesday. In view of the weather forecast, the revenue and disaster management department issued an advisory to the district collectors asking them to remain prepared to deal with possible flood and water-logging in different areas. The collectors were asked to keep the administrative machinery prepared to meet any eventuality, the advisory said. Areas prone to water-logging and flood may be identified and field officials prepared to evacuate people from vulnerable areas to safe shelters, it said. Advance arrangements may be made for adequate food, safe drinking water, lights, health and sanitation facilities at all shelters and relief camps, it added. Meanwhile, officials said a warning has been issued to people living in the vicinity of Hirakud dam as water level in the barrage has crossed 615 feet against the full reservoir capacity of 630 feet. In view of the situation, water would be released from the dam on 14 August through sluice gates, the dam’s chief engineer K Nayak said.