Heavy rainfall in Odisha from Oct 23

Director of regional meteorology department S.C. Sahoo said a low pressure off the Tamilnadu coast was likely to develop into a deep depression.

Under its impact, there is also a possibility of heavy rainfall in southern districts of Odisha between October 23 and 27.

It has worried the administration as it might affect restoration in the cyclone-hit zones of the state.

Special relief commissioner P.K. Mohapatra said: “Though there is a likelihood of rain in the southern districts under the impact of depression off Tamilnadu coast, there is nothing to panic as there would be no cyclonic storm.”

He, however, admitted that the ongoing restoration might be affected because of the rain.

The special relief commissioner, however, said situation was heading towards normality in the cyclone and flood-affected areas.

“Most of the affected people have already returned home. However, the relief operations will continue till October 22,” he said.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) has mounted a watch for the low-pressure area in the south-east Bay of Bengal. Given that a ‘low’ is the basic building block of building storm its behaviour will be closely watched for signs of intensification.

It could still intensify a couple of rounds to become a minimal storm (depression) when it reaches the south Tamil Nadu coast by Wednesday (October 23), according to early forecasts.