Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Even as several parts of Odisha are witnessing rainfall activity under the influence of the formation of a cyclonic circulation over East-central and adjoining Northeast Bay of Bengal, the intensity of downpour is set to rise from today, informed the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
According to the official reports, as per the prediction of the IMD’s Bhubaneswar regional centre, the cyclonic circulation now lies over North and adjoining Central Bay of Bengal and extends up to 5.8 km above mean sea level. Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over Northwest and adjoining West-central Bay of Bengal off Odisha-West Bengal coasts around September 20.
Many places including the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar witnessed an overcast sky and light rain yesterday under the impact of the cyclonic circulation. The rainfall activity, however, is set to increase from today. The weather bureau has issued Orange Warning for heavy rain in four districts while 10 districts have been put on yellow warning.
Issuing the Orange Warning, the IMD Bhubaneswar said, “Heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20cm) very likely to occur at one or two places over the districts of Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Ganjam and Puri.”
Similarly, the weather office issued Yellow Warning and predicted that heavy rainfall (7 to 11cm) is very likely to occur at one or two places over the districts of Gajapati, Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Khordha, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh and Kendrapara. Meanwhile, Hirakud dam authorities in Sambalpur district have decided to open four sluice gates in a phased manner from 10 am today to release excess water from the reservoir.
The water level in the reservoir stands at 629.27 ft by 6 am today against the storage capacity of 630 ft. The inflow stands at 91,508 cusecs and the outflow is 40,680 cusecs.
