Odisha Flood: nearly 170 villages marooned, IMD warns more rains

Bhubaneswar, Aug 26 (PTI) Though the water level in all the major rivers in north Odisha, including Subarnarekha and Baitarani, has receded by Tuesday evening, nearly 170 villages in Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts continue to remain marooned, officials said.

The plight of the people who were encircled by flood water for two days is likely to be worse as the IMD has warned of heavy rainfall in the next few days due to a fresh low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal, they said.

A truck driver went missing after the vehicle was swept away by floodwater in Sudergarh district.

Meanwhile, Odisha’s Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari visited the flood affected areas in Jajpur district, where more than 45 villages were inundated following the embankment of the river Kani, a tributary of Baitarani, breached on Saturday.

“The flood condition of north Odisha has improved with the water level falling in all major rivers. However, the people living in low-lying areas are still in relief camps where they are provided with cooked food,” Pujari told reporters.

The government will provide house damage assistance and agricultural input for the loss of crops as soon as the water recedes from villages, he said.

The minister said that relief and rescue operations were going on in full swing by the local administration and officials will immediately start the estimation of damages.

Pujari said many people have been evacuated and sheltered in relief camps in all affected districts.

Meanwhile, Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati held a review of the flood situation and suggested that the authorities ensure “zero casualty” in the calamity.

He suggested some long term measures to control repeated occurrence of flood in the north Odisha.

The governor was informed that Balasore, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, and Sundargarh districts were affected in this spell of flood. He asked officials to provide essentials to the needy people during the crisis.

A report from Sundergarh district said that a trailer truck was swept away by strong floodwaters while crossing a bridge over the Safei river in Sahajbahal area.

The driver of the vehicle, identified as Sujit Aind is missing while the fire service personnel rescued the helper of the truck. A search operation is on to trace the missing driver.

As per the latest report, the water level of the Subarnarekha river at Rajghat receded to below 10.36 meters, the danger mark, and is on a falling trend. Similarly, the water level of Baitarani at Akhiapada was also receding, the official said, adding that the water level of other rivers was on a receding mode.

Engineer in chief of water resources department CS Padhi said that though the rainfall has been insignificant in rivers of north Odisha and Mahanadi delta areas, the basis of Bansadhara, Nagabali and Kolab in the southern region of the state have received excess rainfall.

The IMD said that a fresh low-pressure area has formed over the northwest Bay of Bengal off the Odisha coast at 5.30 am on Tuesday, and it is likely to move west-northwestwards and become more marked during the next two days.

The weather agency has warned of isolated heavy rainfall in Odisha for four days. Heavy to very heavy rainfall may occur on August 26-27.

The IMD has issued a Red Warning (above 20 cm rain) saying scattered heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy falls and thunderstorms accompanied by gusty surface wind speed reaching 30-40 kmph is very likely to occur at one or two places over the districts of Koraput and Malkangiri by 8.30 am of Wednesday morning.

Similarly, it warned of very heavy rainfall (below 20 cm rainfall) at one or two places over the districts of Nawarangpur, Kalahandi, Rayagada, Kandhamal and Gajapati districts by 8.30 am of Wednesday.

"Thunderstorm with lightning and gusty surface wind speed reaching 30-40 kmph at one or two places in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Sonepur, Boudh, Nuapada and Bolangir," an official said quoting the IMD forecast. PTI AAM RG AAM NN