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In response to severe weather forecasts and escalating flood conditions, district administrations across northern Odisha have ordered the immediate closure of all schools and colleges on Monday. The decision comes after the India Meteorological Department issued a red alert predicting extremely heavy rainfall of up to twenty centimeters across Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, and Baleshwar districts. The shutdown applies to both government and private educational institutions as authorities prioritize student safety amid widespread waterlogging, swelling river basins, and disrupted transport networks across the coastal and northern belts of the state.
The intensification of downpours stems from a fresh low-pressure system forming over the northwest Bay of Bengal, which is tracking northwestward and generating squally coastal winds reaching up to sixty kilometers per hour. The heavy precipitation has compounded an ongoing flood crisis in Odisha, where cumulative monsoon rainfall has surpassed normal seasonal averages by twenty-seven percent. Swollen river systems, notably the Baitarani and Brahmani, have inundated vast agricultural lands, breached rural embankments, and submerged low-lying settlements across several blocks in districts like Jajpur, Kendrapara, and Balasore.
State disaster management officials reported that over five lakh people across hundreds of villages and urban wards are currently battling severe inundation, prompting the evacuation of more than two lakh residents to designated relief shelters. Emergency rescue operations have been deployed to assist stranded communities, while government leaves have been cancelled to ensure administrative personnel remain stationed in the field for flood relief, medical assistance, and infrastructure repairs. With meteorologists warning that intense rainfall will persist before tapering off, residents and coastal fishermen have been urged to exercise extreme caution and heed official advisories during this active monsoon phase.