Bhubaneswar, Sep 10 (IANS): In the wake of the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) forecast regarding heavy rainfall at many places in Odisha, the state Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department on Monday instructed all the Municipal Commissioners and Municipal Executive Officers to remain on high alert and make preparations to deal with any emergency situation.

The IMD had earlier said that a low-pressure system that intensified over the Bay of Bengal is expected to bring heavy to very heavy rainfall in many parts of the state during the next 24 hours, with the potential for sustained heavy rains over the next 48 hours.

Several districts, including Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, and Ganjam in Odisha, have been placed on high alert.

The principal secretary for the H&UD department, Usha Padhee during a virtual meeting held on Monday, reviewed the current situation with senior officials of the H&UD department, the district nodal officers, the Commissioners and Executive Officers.

She emphasised the need for continuous monitoring and urged all urban areas to be fully prepared.

Padhee also directed all municipal commissioners and municipal executive officers to be on high alert and make all the preparations to deal with any emergency situations.

"All Urban Local Bodies have been instructed to immediately activate control rooms, ensure the availability of pump sets, and remain vigilant for potential waterlogging, road damage, and other disruptions," said H&UD sources on Monday.

Besides, the state government has directed the engineers in charge to keep close watch over the embankments, especially the weak and vulnerable points in the river and canal embankments across the state.

The engineers have also been directed to keep flood fighting materials ready at strategic places and take immediate action to prevent any breach or to close the breach, damage of roads, if any.

Similarly, the drainage engineers and officials have been instructed to take steps to clear the congestion materials from the drainage channels for free flow of flood water.

As per the office of Special Relief Commissioner, as many as 18 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) have been deployed in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Boudh, Balangir districts while 12 other teams are kept in readiness for five coastal and adjoining districts including Ganjam, Khordha, Puri, Nayagarh and Boudh.

The SRC office further informed that six teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been moved to Ganjam, Puri, Khordha, Nayagarh while two teams are kept on standby.

As many as 504 and 56 persons have been evacuated and sheltered in relief camps in Malkangiri and Koraput districts, respectively.