Odisha Floods: Over 1.5 lakh people affected; heavy rainfall may worsen situation

Bhubaneswar: The flood situation in Odisha's Mahanadi river system remained grim as it continues to swell, with around 1.5 lakh people in 237 villages being marooned, a senior official said on Wednesday.

“The first flood of the season has affected over two lakh people in 10 districts, while more than 27,000 people have been evacuated and taken to temporary shelters so far, he said. The water level in Hirakud Dam stands at 626.47 feet against the full reservoir level of 630 feet. The reading at Mundali barrage near Cuttack declined to 11,77,024 cusecs against 12 lakh cusecs on Tuesday. We expect this water level to continue for another 24 hours,” Engineer in Chief, Water Resources Department, B K Mishra, said.

Mahanadi river near the Mundali barrage continued to swell, he said, adding, that the situation could be even worse in the delta region comprising Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, and Khurda district. The official said while above 6.24 lakh cusecs of flood water is entering the reservoir, 6.81 lakh cusecs is being discharged through 40 gates at Hirakud dam.

Over 2 lakh people in 1,366 villages and nine urban local bodies in 10 districts along the Mahanadi basin have so far been affected by the flood triggered by a week-long, depression-induced rainfall.

Also read: Odisha floods: CM Naveen Patnaik reviews situation, asks officials to be on toes

The flow of flood water reached its peak in the Mahanadi delta region after midnight on Tuesday, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena. Jena said breaches have been reported at two places in the Mahanadi river system- one in Makara river in Puri district and the other at Rajua Raiki in Khurda district.

Meanwhile, the meteorological department has forecast the formation of a fresh low-pressure area over the northern Bay of Bengal by Friday, which could cause widespread and heavy rain in the state. The Met Office has also issued a ‘yellow warning' for heavy rainfall in 10 districts of north coastal Odisha on Wednesday.