India vs Australia: Rain makes Cuttack ODI doubtful

Bhubaneswar, Oct 24 (IANS) Torrential rain continued to lash many parts of Odisha Thursday for the fourth consecutive day, heaping more misery on the survivors of cyclone Phailin in the state, a minister here said.

The rain also disrupted road and railway services and resulted in water-logging in many villages and towns.

It also hampered rehabilitation work in places worst-affected by the cyclone and subsequent flooding, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Surya Narayan Patro told IANS.

More than 10,000 people, evacuated ahead of the cyclone, returned to relief camps in Ganjam district as rivers swelled and water entered homes.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Odisha Disaster Response Force personnel have been sent to the affected areas for relief and rescue operations.

The Bansadhara river and its tributaries have crossed danger levels in the region and the water is likely to rise further as heavy rain was expected in the next two-three days, Patro said.

“Most places in the state are witnessing rain over past four days. Some places experienced more than seven cm rain,” an official of the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre told IANS. He said that the situation is expected to remain the same over the next few days.

A well marked low-pressure area, earlier centred over south coastal Andhra Pradesh and adjoining west central Bay of Bengal and the neighbourhood, now lies over coastal Andhra Pradesh and adjoining areas of Telangana and Rayalaseema, he added.

As a result, squally weather with wind speeds reaching up to 55 kmph may prevail along and off the state’s coast. Since the sea would be rough to very rough, fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea, the official said.

The weather office has asked all ports in the state to hoist local cautionary signal number three, he said.

The Bhubaneswar-headquartered East Coast Railway (ECoR) said train services were disrupted between Khurda Road in Odisha and Vijayanagaram in Andhra Pradesh from Wednesday evening after flood waters submerged railway tracks in some places.

As a result, long distance trains have been diverted to substitute routes and some trains have been short-terminated, rescheduled or partially cancelled, ECoR’s chief public relations officer J.P. Mishra said.

Heavy rain has also cast a shadow over the One-Day International cricket match between India and Australia, scheduled to be played at Cuttack’s Barabati Stadium on Saturday.

Even as both the teams arrived in Bhubaneswar, the stadium outfield was water-logged. A official, however, said the cricket pitch was covered. “It all depends on how the weather remains Friday and Saturday,” he said.

Phailin, which made landfall Oct 12 near Gopalpur in Ganjam district, brought heavy rain and caused floods leaving a trail of destruction in several districts of the state.

Although only 44 deaths were recorded, about 1.2 crore people in 17 of the state’s 30 districts were affected, the state government said. According to preliminary government estimates, the damage was pegged at about Rs.4,242 crore.

The latest rain and flooding is likely to delay the restoration and rehabilitation work the government is carrying out in the disaster-hit areas, Patro said.