Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 02: Three people died in separate wall-collapse incidents across Odisha on Tuesday, officials said. One victim was a three-year-old child killed in Sambalpur district on Tuesday. Odisha has now crossed its normal seasonal rainfall mark for the monsoon. Heavy rainfall continues across several districts, with further intense rain forecast soon. The India Meteorological Department has issued fresh alerts for several affected districts.
In Mayurbhanj, 49-year-old Singo Murmu died when mud walls collapsed on her. She was sleeping around 4am when the tiled roof also gave way. Lakshmi Singh died in Bangiriposi after a weakened mud wall suddenly collapsed. She was removing household belongings when the weakened wall gave way suddenly. The Sambalpur child died when a rain-weakened mud wall collapsed around noon.
Odisha recorded 1,154.3 mm rainfall between June 1 and August 31 this year. That figure marginally exceeded the normal seasonal rainfall total of 1,150.2 mm. June had ended with a substantial 47 per cent rainfall deficit statewide. July then brought 91 per cent excess rainfall across the entire state. August recorded 15 per cent above-normal rainfall, more than offsetting June’s shortfall.
Mayurbhanj was identified as the worst-affected district during this latest rainfall spell. Bangiriposi in Mayurbhanj recorded the state’s highest 24-hour rainfall at 309.2 mm. More than 13.5 lakh people across 1,895 villages faced earlier severe flooding. Ten districts were affected between August 13 and August 26 this year. That earlier flooding killed 27 people from drowning and other related causes.
Meteorologist Uma Shankar Das linked the prolonged rain to slow-moving weather systems. Normal slow-moving low-pressure systems typically travel around 240 to 340 km daily. One system formed over the northwest Bay of Bengal on July 25. It travelled only about 470 km across four days in total distance. That pace averaged roughly 118 km per day, notably slower than usual.
Two earlier July systems also produced significant rainfall over several days each. The first brought 213.9 mm rainfall between July 1 and July 6. A second system produced 103.9 mm between July 15 and July 18. Das said research suggests climate change could be slowing such weather systems. Slower systems remain active for longer, producing heavier rainfall over shorter periods.
The IMD has forecast intense rainfall continuing until the September 3 morning. An orange alert covers Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj for very heavy rain. Thunderstorms and gusty winds are also forecast across several other Odisha districts. Vulnerable rural structures remain at heightened risk amid this continuing weather pattern. Odisha’s overall rainfall position now sits marginally above its long-term seasonal average.
