The Odisha government on Saturday evacuated over 70,000 people living in low-lying areas to safety and housed them in 395 relief camps as all rivers in the state swelled due to heavy rainfall over the past few days, officials said.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi will conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas in south Odisha on Sunday morning. The coastal district of Balasore was among the worst hit as three major rivers were flowing above their danger level. Flash floods and incidents of water-logging have been reported from 13 districts — Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Keonjhar, Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Bolangir and Jagatsinghpur, they said. The water level of the Subarnarekha River was flowing at 11.07 meters at Jaleswar’s Rajghat at 5 pm against the danger level of 10.36 metres. Meanwhile, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said 11 more gates of the Hirakud Dam had to be opened on Saturday to release excess water from the reservoir. The minister said 33 rescue teams of ODRAF, three teams of NDRF and around 300 teams of Fire Services personnel have been engaged in relief and rescue operations.
This has led to flooding in the villages in Bhograi, Jaleswar, Baliapal and Basta blocks, the officials said. Other rivers such as Kansabansa, Soa and Gangahar were also in spate in Balasore, they said.
