Following flash floods in the Salia dam that submerged 67 villages in Banpur, around 4,700 people have so far been evacuated.
Four ODRAF members had a narrow escape on Friday as their boat capsized in the floodwater while the team was moving to Balidiha for rescue and relief operation. At present, about seven feet water is running in the premises Nehru Seva Sangh Children’s Home, inmates of which have been shifted to safer place. The relief and restoration operations were being carried out under the direct supervision of Khurda Project Director Saroj Patnaik.
The incessant rainfall, that has been going on for the past 48 hours, has caused overflow of Salia dam that has caused breaches at many places and damaged about 20,000 hectares of paddy crop. On Thursday, following the intervention of the local correspondent of The Pioneer, Chief Secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra deputed an ODRAF team to Banpur for rescue operation.