Post-flood Odisha limps back to normal

The current floods in different rivers of Odisha have left its mark even on urban centres in the state, besides villages and rural pockets.

Towns and cities affected by the deluge include state capital Bhubaneswar and nearby Cuttack city, two of Odisha’s most important urban centres. Sambalpur, the biggest business and cultural hub of western Odisha, and Bhadrak, an important town in North Odisha, have also been affected by the floods. Besides, according to the latest government report, the deluge has affected as many as 27 urban local bodies in the state.

In the last four days, a number of slums as well as apartment complexes in the Sundarpada area of Bhubaneswar have been marooned by the flood waters of the Daya river.

While many families in slums have shifted to safer places like the nearby Puri-Bhubaneswar national highway, people living in apartments had no other option but to stay inside their waterlogged houses.

“The only mode of communication is a motor boat that the fire brigade has pressed into service. Two days ago, an elderly person residing in one of the apartments fell sick. We had to shift him to the hospital in the motor boat,” said Amiya Biswal, a local resident who had come to one of the Bhubaneswar markets to stock up on essential food.

Similarly, the flood water of the Kuakhai river, which flows in another side of the capital city, had inundated several slums as well as few residential colonies in Pandara.

Both the Daya and Kuakhai, the states biggest rivers, are branches of the Mahanadi.

As water in the Mahanadi kept increasing, the Daya and Kuakhai rivers, too, followed an upward trend, leading to the massive floods two days ago.

Now, water in all three rivers are reducing. But areas in the city, however, are yet to see respite from the waterlogging.

In Cuttack, a number of slums and residential colonies have been inundated by excess flood water from the Mahanadi as well as another branch river Kathjori, which forced local authorities to distribute relief packages.