Bhubaneswar: The extremely slow movement of a weather system over Odisha became the primary reason behind the widespread heavy rainfall and flood situation in the state, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) meteorologist Umasankar Das.

Explaining the weather situation, Das said a low-pressure area formed over the northwest Bay of Bengal on July 25 and intensified into a depression over the same region on July 26. Instead of moving quickly inland, the system remained almost stationary for several days.

"Very slow movement of the system. A low-pressure area formed on July 25 over the northwest Bay of Bengal and became a depression on July 26 over the same area. Even after four days, the system has only reached near Jharsuguda, travelling less than 500 km. This has brought a huge amount of downpour, leading to flooding conditions across the state," Das said.

The prolonged presence of the system resulted in continuous and intense rainfall across several districts, triggering floods, waterlogging and rising river levels in many parts of Odisha.

According to the IMD's midday bulletin issued on Wednesday, the deep depression over north interior Odisha and adjoining parts of south Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh moved westwards at a speed of about 15 kmph during the previous six hours. At 8.30 am, the system was centred over central Chhattisgarh and adjoining north interior Odisha, around 80 km northwest of Sambalpur.

The IMD said the deep depression is likely to continue moving nearly westwards across Chhattisgarh and east Madhya Pradesh over the next 24 hours.

The latest rainfall data for the past 24 hours highlights the intensity of the downpour across western Odisha. Bargarh district recorded the highest rainfall, with Bijepur receiving 315 mm, followed by Agalpur in Bolangir at 264 mm and Salebhata in Bolangir at 256.8 mm.

Other stations reporting extremely heavy rainfall included Barapali in Bargarh (252 mm), Gaisilet in Bargarh (251 mm), Dunguripali in Sonepur (243 mm), Tarva in Sonepur (241.4 mm), Bhatli in Bargarh (228.4 mm), Telkoi in Keonjhar (221 mm), Kantamal in Boudh (221 mm), Chhendipada in Angul (206.2 mm) and Atabira in Bargarh (200 mm).