Flood like situation in Odisha, disaster relief teams deployed

Bhubaneswar, August 3 (IANS) Continuous heavy rainfall in different parts of Odisha in the last three days has caused waterlogging in the low-lying areas of several districts including, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Sonepur and Keonjhar.

Due to the incessant downpour, water level in the Bramhani, Baitarani and Mahanadi rivers have increased, leading to inundation of crop fields and flood waters entering houses.

Schools have closed down at affected blocks.

Two panchayats (Chamundia & Rasanga) cut off from Gania block of Nayagarh district, but connected from Daspalla side.

Road connectivity would be restored after 4-5 hours on further decrease in water level, officials said.

The water level of Baitarani river, which has crossed the danger mark at Akhuapada and Anandpur, has now started receding.

No major flood like situation happened in the system, said Bhakta Ranjan Mohanty, engineer-in-chief, water resources department.

The water level of Brahmani has started increasing at Jenapur, but it still is flowing under the danger mark, he said.

Similarly, due to heavy rainfall in the upper catchment area, the water level of Mahanadi river is also rising.

About 8.28 lakh cusec water was flowing on Mahanadi at Munduli on Thursday morning, which is expected to rise upto 9.50 lakh cusec in the evening, Mohanty said.

“We expect a low or medium range flood in the Mahanadi river system. This night is crucial for us as the peak flood will flow in the river system tonight. So, we have deputed senior officials to camp in different districts to closely monitor the situation at field-level,” he said.

Meanwhile, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Satyabrata Sahu took stock of the situation and ordered the deployment of 8 NDRF, 13 ODRAF and 62 fire service teams in the districts of namely Bhadrak, Jajpur, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Angul, Sonepur, Boudh, Kandhamal, Balasore, Cuttack, Puri, Khordha, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara.

The SRC also directed water resources department engineers to ensure 24x7 patrolling of vulnerable river embankments with the support of local police.

The collectors of the above 15 districts were asked to evacuate people from low-lying areas, if required and shift them to safe shelter buildings with light, toilet, water and food arrangements, officials said.

According to sources, more than 3,000 people, including 1,200 from Balasore, have been evacuated as of Wednesday night.

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