Heavy rain disrupts normal life in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Incessant rain, over the past two days, has thrown life out of gear in parts of Odisha, disrupting road traffic and causing damage to paddy crop in some areas, a weather official said on Saturday.

Many places have witnessed rainfall due to the impact of Cyclone Nilam in the Bay of Bengal, even though it has weakened. Rain was also continuing at several places, SC Sahu, director of the Bhubaneswar meteorological centre said.

While the port town of Gopalpur received the state's highest rainfall of 123 mm on Friday, the coastal towns of Puri and Berhampur recorded a rainfall of 116.8 and 82 mm respectively, he said.

Rain continued to lash state capital Bhubaneswar, which received about 88 mm rainfall on Friday. Traffic was disrupted on the national highway close to the city.

A large number of children preferred to stay at home and did not attend school on Saturday.

The rain has damaged paddy crop in some places, especially in the coastal belt, an official of the state agriculture department said.

The weather office has predicted heavy rains for some areas until November 5.