A depression over the Bay of Bengal crossed the South Odisha coast close to Gopalpur in Ganjam district early on Saturday (September 27, 2025) morning, bringing heavy rain in several districts of the State, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The IMD’s report comes on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Odisha, during which he will unveil development projects worth more than ₹60,000 crore in sectors such as telecommunications, railways and higher education, officials said.

Initially, the place for the PM’s public meeting was fixed at Berhampur in Ganjam district in the southern part of the State, but it was later changed to Jharsuguda due to a forecast of heavy rain in that region on Saturday (September 27).

However, the IMD said Jharsuguda is among nine districts where thunderstorms and lightning with gusty surface wind speed reaching 20-30 kmph are likely to occur.

The IMD said the “depression over the Bay of Bengal moved nearly westwards with a speed of 12 kmph during the past 6 hours, crossed the south Odisha coast close to Gopalpur around 4.30 a.m. Saturday (September 27)”.

Depression is a weather condition that follows a well-marked low-pressure system and precedes a cyclonic storm.

At 5.30 a.m. on Saturday (September 27), the system lay centred over south coastal Odisha, about 10 km west-northwest of Gopalpur and 120 km west-southwest of Puri.

“It is very likely to continue to move nearly westwards across south Odisha and Chhattisgarh and weaken gradually into a well-marked low-pressure area during the next 24 hours,” the IMD said.

Rains LIVE: Heavy rain lashes parts of Odisha, depression crosses coastal areas

The entire coastal and southern region of the State received heavy rainfall on Friday (September 26) night, and the downpour continued this morning, an official said.

The IMD has issued an orange warning of heavy-to-very-heavy rain with lightning and wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph for Nabarangpur district, and a yellow alert of downpour for Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kalahandi and Nuapada districts.

The weather office also predicted thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds over Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Sonepur, Boudh, Bolangir and Kandhamal districts.

Fishermen were advised not to venture into the sea till Saturday (September 27) afternoon.

PM Modi’s visit

From western Odisha’s Jharsuguda town, PM Modi will commission more than 97,500 4G telecom towers built with BSNL’s ‘swadeshi’ technology, marking India’s entry into a league of nations such as Denmark, Sweden, South Korea, and China that manufacture homegrown telecom equipment.

In a post on X, he said, “Will be in Jharsuguda, Odisha, to inaugurate developmental works…In a historic feat, over 97,500 telecom towers across India would be commissioned. These have been built using local technologies and will boost connectivity in remote areas, border areas and those affected by Maoism.”

Besides several projects specific to Odisha, Mr. Modi will lay foundation stones for the expansion of eight IITs across the country, which will create capacity for 10,000 new students over the next four years.

“The other projects being launched or foundation stones being laid pertain to rail connectivity, expansion of IIT infrastructure, skill development centres, housing and much more. These works are in line with our vision to build a Viksit Bharat where the poor and downtrodden get access to all-round development,” Mr. Modi said.