BHUBANESWAR: Over 4.15 lakh people in 10 districts of Odisha have been hit by floods in major rivers as the State Government evacuated over 18,500 people from the low lying areas by Friday.
More than 3.83 lakh people have been marooned as flood waters entered 552 villages. The official estimate said at least 1,276 villages have been impacted by the flood caused by incessant rains.
Crops in nearly 75,000 hectares have been damaged, according to preliminary estimates. There are reports of five deaths from Bargarh, Jajpur, Balasore, Nuapada and Bhadrak districts.
The death reported from Komna block of Nuapada district took the toll in rain related incidents to nine. Over one lakh livestock have also been affected by the flood waters. As many as 2,757 houses have been partially damaged while 278 have been completely swept away in the flood waters. According to the latest situation report released by the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), Angul, Balangir, Balasore, Boudh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Nuapada, Deogarh and Sonepur districts have been worst affected in the flood caused by swelling waters of Mahanadi and its tributaries, Subarnarekha, Bramhani and Baitarani.
Stating that a medium intensity flood in the Mahanadi river system is anticipated following heavy rains in the upper catchment areas during the last 24 hours, Jena said Collectors of all districts on the river basin have been asked to remain alert and take all measures to tackle the situation. Besides inflow of water to Hirakud reservoir, water from Tel, Ib and Bheden will also flow into Mahanadi, the SRC said and added that 10 to 10.5 lakh cusec flood water is likely to enter the system.
The water will take 36 hours to reach Mundali in Cuttack district. However, maximum 8 lakh cusec water is likely to flow into Hirakud dam. At present 6.9 lakh cusec water is entering Hirakud and 4.11 lakh cusec getting discharged through 40 gates. Two more gates are likely to be opened by the dam authorities if water level - now at 625.29 meters - increases. Currently, at least 9.93 lakh cusec water is discharged at Khairamal while 7.11 lakh is being discharged at Mundali. Jena said that the situation is not alarming because in the earlier years, Mahanadi river system has handled 16 lakh cusec flood water.
Flood in Mahanadi will affect Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Nayagarh and Jagatsingpur districts. Meanwhile, water level in Bramhani is receding. At Pankapal, against the danger level of 25 metres, water level dropped to 23.46 metres. Besides, Baitarani, Budhabalanga and Subarnarekha have also started receding.