BHUBANESWAR: District Collectors of 10 districts have been directed by State Government to submit detailed reports on the damage due to the heavy rainfall to the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) at the earliest.Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy took stock of the situation with district collectors of Malkangiri, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Bargarh, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Sonepur, Deogarh, Bolangir and Boudh districts here on Monday.
The low pressure induced rain across the State has taken the life of one person while causing damage to kharif crops and property in many blocks of 10 districts. Two persons were critically injured when wall of a kutcha house caved at Ghungutipalli village under Patnagarh block in Balangir district. One of the injured persons died while the other is undergoing treatment.
Tripathy, who reviewed the situation with district collectors through video conference, said heavy rainfall in the last three days in 10 districts has led to severe waterlogging in low lying areas. Partial damage to crop and kutcha houses have also been reported.Tripathy said Malkangiri district had received the highest rainfall of 463.2 mm since August 13 followed by Jajpur 263 mm and Dhenkanal 200 mm.
With the meteorological department predicting more rainfall under the influence of another low pressure over the Bay of Bengal in the next 48 hours, the State Government on Monday put all the district collectors on high alert to deal with any possible flood like situation.
State seeks ‘Nagar Vans’ in five urban areas
Bhubaneswar: The State Government on Monday submitted a proposal for creation of Nagar Vans (urban forests) in five municipal corporations of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Rourkela and Berhampur with a financial outlay of `13.84 crore. Forest and Environment Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha gave the proposal to the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javedkar at the State forest ministers’ conference held though video conference. The Nagar Van scheme announced on June 5 (World Environment Day) aims at creation of 200 urban forests on forest land by adopting a collaborative approach and involving various agencies like NGOs, corporate bodies, industries and local citizens. Initially, the Ministry will be giving grants for fencing and soil moisture work.