Bhubaneswar, Aug. 3: Keep your umbrellas handy as two low-pressure areas will trigger heavy rain all over the state, including the city, over the next few days.

One low-pressure zone is active over the land area near Chhattisgarh, while the other formed over the Bay of Bengal today.

The Regional Meteorological Centre today traced the fresh low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal. It will bring heavy to very heavy rain over the coastal belt, including Bhubaneswar.

The other low-pressure area, formed yesterday over the Bay of Bengal, moved towards north Chhattisgarh today and triggered rainfall in the interior pockets. The rainfall will continue for at least next four days. The southwest monsoon is also active over some parts of the state.

Uninterrupted rain since late last night has meant squelching shoes, avoiding pools of water on the road and other wet woes for people in the city. Several roads, including the NH-5 and the Puri-Cuttack state highway, have been damaged at several places. Commuters are having a tough time on these roads.

"It is a bone-jarring ride near Bomikhal on the Cuttack-Puri state highway and Rasulgarh flyover, and the approach roads on the national highway. Large potholes are full of rainwater are easily misleading and fatal accidents could occur. The authorities should repair the roads at the earliest," said Sanjay Parida, a Bomikhal resident.

The Met office recorded 31.2mm rain between 5.30pm yesterday and 8.30am today and 3.7mm rain till 5.30pm today in Bhubaneswar. Cuttack received 39mm rain today. The highest of 61mm rain was recorded at Angul.

Minor waterlogging plagued residents of several low-lying areas in Bhubaneswar, such as Acharya Vihar and GGP Colony.

"Earlier, roads and houses used to remain submerged during the monsoon. But things improved after the administration repaired the drainage channels here. This time, the waterlogging condition is not so bad," said Acharya Vihar resident Sampad Mohanty.

Met director Sarat Chandra Sahu said the southwest monsoon was active over some parts of the state and the formation of back-to-back low-pressure was contributing to the rain. "This trend will continue till August 10. The state has so far received 12 per cent deficit rain, Sahu said.