At least two people have died, and 2.4 lakh people affected and thousands of acres of agricultural land inundated as the depression induced heavy rainfall caused floods in Odisha’s five districts. The state government has launched rescue and relief operations.
The five districts which have been affected due to the floods in the Subarnarekha, Budhabalang and Baitarani rivers were Keonjhar, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Balasore and Bhadrak.
Two people – Dora Singh Sahu (40), owner of a medicine store at Baliapal town in Balasore district ,and his assistant Kabula (30) –were swept away by flood waters of Subarnarekha river while crossing a flooded road. The bodies are yet to be recovered.
— Pravat Ranjan Mohapatra, Deputy Special Relief Commissioner (DSRC)
Even as flood situation in Baitarani and Subarnarekha rivers has shown some improvement due to reduced rainfall in their catchment areas last night, the flood situation in Subarnarekha river passing through Balasore district continued to remain severe due to continuous heavy rainfall both in Odisha and Jharkhand.
— G V V Sarma, Special Relief Commissioner
The release of water from Galudihi barrage in Jharkhand has further aggravated the situation in Subarnarekha river, he said, adding so far two breaches have occurred on the embankment of river Baitarani - one near Ganeswarpur in Jajpur district and the other near Khaljori in Chandabali block of Bhadrak district.
One small breach has also occurred on the left embankment of Kani river near Panchupada of Dasarathpur block of Jajpur district. Another breach was on Subarnarekha near Dahamunda of Bhogarai block in Balasore district, officials said.
As many as 2,238 people in three districts have been evacuated and shifted to seven shelters.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reviewed the flood situation and asked the administration to ensure evacuation of people from low lying areas. Four ODRAF (Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force) units and one NDRF unit has been deployed in the affected district to undertake rescue operation and assist the administration in relief activities.
“One additional ODRAF unit is being rushed to Balasore district and one unit has been kept standby at Cuttack,” the officials said.
The fire services units in the districts of Jajpur, Keonjhar, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts have been mobilised with 42 boats, other equipment and manpower to undertake search and rescue operations.
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