The India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert warning Odisha and Chhattisgarh of extremely heavy rain as a deep depression approaches.
The system is currently positioned over north interior Odisha and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal, moving west-northwestwards at about 12 kilometres per hour.
The IMD said the depression is likely to move across north Odisha, south Jharkhand and north Chhattisgarh over the next 24 hours, bringing heavy to very heavy rainfall.
Some areas under the red alert could see extremely heavy rain exceeding 204.5 millimetres, with authorities warning of flooding and waterlogging risk.
An orange alert has also been issued for Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, western Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, where heavy to very heavy rain is expected.
Rain alerts remain in force for Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar amid warnings of thunderstorms and strong winds.
The IMD has cautioned residents of hilly states about landslide risk and advised motorists to avoid waterlogged roads during the alert.
The department said it would continue to closely track the depression’s movement and issue updated warnings as the system progresses.
In a separate press release on July 28, the IMD forecast normal to above-normal monsoon rainfall over northwest and central India over the next four to five days, with the monsoon trough expected to remain near its normal position through the week.
The IMD’s colour-coded alert system moves from green through yellow and orange to red, with red warnings reserved for conditions serious enough to demand immediate precautionary action from state authorities and residents.
Red alerts from the IMD are reserved for situations warranting immediate action, urging state disaster management authorities to prepare for potential large-scale disruption to travel, power supply and daily life.
The IMD typically classifies a weather system as a deep depression when sustained wind speeds near its centre reach between 51 and 61 kilometres per hour, one step below a full cyclonic storm in intensity.
(Image: Photo by McKay Savage from London, UK, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)
