Heavy rainfall triggered by a depression over the Bay of Bengal lashed several parts of the State including the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack during the last 24 hours.
The rains virtually threw life out of gear in the twin cities and other places like Puri and Paradip.
Besides, several low-lying areas of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar were waterlogged, bringing misery for the residents.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) pulled up its socks to tackle the situation and has deployed 13 teams for all the 67 wards of the city.
As many as 40 engineers have been engaged to look into water logging problems A 24-hour control room with (toll free number- 0674 2432281 and an operation centre with (toll-free number- 1800 345006) have been set up to meet emergency situations.
Similarly in Cuttack, as many as 130 pump sets are being used by the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) for draining out water from low-lying areas in Cuttack city.
With several areas marooned due to the incessant rains rain, the Cuttack and Puri district administration on Thursday declared closure of all educational institutions.
Similarly, heavy rain also brought normal life to standstill in Paradip which has recorded a maximum of 412 mm rain in last 24 hours. Several areas of the Paradip Port including its prohibited parts witnessed waterlogging after rainfall thereby affecting loading and unloading of consignments. The situation in the holy town Puri was no better. Several areas were inundated due to the heavy rain.
However, a total of 44 blocks in the State received more than 100 mm of rainfall with Erasama block in Jagatsinghpur district receiving the highest of 435 mm.