JOIN USNo respite to Odisha floods
More than 14 lakh people in these districts have already been affected by the calamity which has so far claimed 16 lives besides rendering thousands homeless.
The river Mahanadi and many of its tributaries are flowing above the danger level at more than one place.
A spell of heavy rain on Sunday afternoon in the entire coastal belt as well as part of western Odisha has increased the misery of the people, particularly those who have taken shelter under the open sky on rooftops and river embankments.
However, the administration is hopeful of improvement in the situation in the next 48 hours as rainfall in the upper catchment areas of Hirakud dam in neighbouring Chhattisgarh has considerably reduced resulting in less inflow of water into the important reservoir.
In fact, the dam authorities have already started closing some of the gates of the reservoir. But the impact of the move would be visible in the flooded districts only after 24 hours.
Heavy release of water from the Hirakud dam located in Sambalpur district has triggered the current floods in the Mahandi river system.
The water level in the reservoir stood at 628.8 feet against maximum capacity of 630 feet. The level was 629.5 feet on Saturday.
Revenue Minister Surya Narayan Patra on Sunday said that the administration had been continuing relief and rescue operations on war footing. “We have already launched relief and rescue operations on a war footing in all the affected districts,” Patra said insisting that there had been no shortage of relief materials.
Defence helicopters and boats were utilised in these operations.
According to the latest reports available in the office of the Special Relief Commissioner, the number of the flood hit- villages in the 19 affected districts has gone up from 2550 on Saturday to 2788 on Sunday.
Nearly a lakh of people, 97,117 to be precise, have already been evacuated from 877 still marooned villages.
The evacuated people are being housed in temporary shelters set up by local administration of different districts. Many people have also taken shelter in river embankments as well as on different highways.
Traffic movement between capital Bhubaneswar and temple town of Konark has been severely hit following submersion of a highway in Puri district.
The low-lying areas of Bhubaneswar city have also been affected by the river Kuakhai and the river Daya, flowing on both sides of capital.
Apart from single houses, parking area of some of multi-storeyed apartments located near both rivers have also been submerged by the flood waters creating inconvenience for the residents.