Depression Near Chilika Lake To Gradually Weaken In Next 24 Hours: IMD

New Delhi, July 20: The depression over the Bay of Bengal that lay centred over the Odisha coast near Chilika Lake will weaken gradually over the next 24 hours, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

As per IMD, the system lay centred at 0530 hours IST Saturday over the Odisha coast near Chilika Lake, about 40 km south-southwest of Puri and 70 km east-northeast of Gopalpur in Odisha.

"It is likely to move further west-northwestwards across Odisha and Chhattisgarh and weaken gradually during the next 24 hours," said the IMD.

As per the forecast issued by IMD Friday, several parts of Odisha will continue to experience heavy rainfall activities under the influence of the system.

Under the impact of the depression, heavy rainfall has been predicted in many places in Odisha for four days since Thursday.

From June 1 to 18, the state has recorded a cumulative rainfall of 288.3 mm against the normal 394.1 mm, the IMD said.

During the period, 13 districts of the state received normal rainfall, while the rest 17 remained deficient.

The southwest monsoon has been active over a large geographical area of India, with at least 80 per cent of the country last week reporting widespread rainfall, with heavy to very heavy spells lashing Assam, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, coastal Maharashtra and Karnataka, Kerala, and Lakshadweep.

After remaining subdued during mid-June, the southwest monsoon got the much-required impetus towards June-end. The monsoon covered the entire country on July 2, six days ahead of its normal schedule. Delhi, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Jammu and Kashmir received the spell in early July.

The Met department's rainfall statistics indicate that the all-India rainfall went from 242 mm on July 9 to 305.8 mm July 17. The country's rainfall stands at 97 per cent of the normal for this time of the year.

(ANI)