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.Will be in Jharsuguda, Odisha, to inaugurate developmental works worth over Rs. 50,000 crore. 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…— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 27, 2025Initially, 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.