3 more die in heavy rain, Odisha faces flood threat

BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Wednesday sounded the alert on a low-to-medium flood in the lower embankment areas of the Mahanadi river even as the death toll in the heavy rainfall over the past four days climbed to seven. One the day, three more bodies were recovered — two died in wall collapse and another drowned — from different parts of the state.
The threat of flood surfaced after the Hirakud reservoir opened 28 sluice gates following an increase in the inflow of water despite rainfall reducing drastically in the past 24 hours. The IMD predicted light to moderate rain in north and south Odisha on Thursday and Friday.
The government has deployed two NDRF teams, one each in Balasore and Bhadrak, and five teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) — two teams each in Balsore and Kendrapada and one in Bhadrak — in view of the emerging flood situation.
Special relief commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena said the district administrations are keeping a close watch on the situation, he said.
Over 23 lakh people hit; Mahanadi flowing close to danger mark
Trying to keep the Hirakud reservoir at its current level of around 628-ft, against the peak capacity of 630-ft, the authorities have opened the sluice gates following an increase in inflow due to rain in upper catchment areas in Chhattisgarh. Rivers such as Baitarani, Vansadhara, Jalaka and Budhabalanga are also in spate. Water from Budhabalanga has marooned temples and agricultural fields at Balighat, Arad Bazaar and Nuniajodi areas in Balasore district on Wednesday. The Mahanadi was flowing close to the danger mark at Naraj while Baitarani (at Akhuapada) and Jalaka (at Mathani) had crossed the danger level.
The government said total 23.82 lakh people were affected in the rain. More than 20,000 people were evacuated while 7,540 houses were fully or partly damaged. Meanwhile, the body of a 17-year-old boy of Phatkara village under Puintala block in Balangir district, who went missing on Tuesday, was recovered. “The deceased, Sudhanshu Patel, was swept away in a flash flood while returning from his farmland,” said Rabinarayan Acharya, block development officer of Puintala.
A man, identified as Purandar Baghar (in his 30s) in Birmaharajpur block of Sonepur district, and a woman, Kamala Nayak (76) in Kendrapada district died when the mud wall of their houses fell on them, the state government’s latest situation report stated.
A farmer, Kishor Singh, and his son Kailash are missing after they were swept away in Bari block of Jajpur district, said Manas Bhoi, the tehsildar of Bari.