Flood situation grim; two swept away in B'swar

Torrential rains in the upper catchment areas of the four major rivers - Subarnarekha, Brahmani, Baitarani and Budhabalanga - have triggered heavy floods in north Odisha. Two persons of Baliapal block in Baleswar district were swept away by floodwaters on Wednesday morning.Reports reaching here said the water levels of all four rivers crossed the danger mark.

Two youths, Dara Sahu and Kabula Sahu, of Charabasta village in Baliapal block were swept away by the Subarnarekha floodwaters while they were trying to cross the overflowing floodwaters on the road near their village.The duo met with the tragedy when they were going to the nearby market to get medicines. The Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) team launched search operations to trace them out.

In Jajpur district, the repair of a breach in the Baitarani embankment at Ganeshpur was in full swing. Efforts were on to send more ODRAF teams to the district, Water Resources Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena said here after a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to take stock of the flood situation.

Besides, floodwaters have entered into several villages following a breach in the Kali river embankment at Ahiyas in Jajpur district, he said.Reports from Mayurbhanj district said the waters of the Budhabalanga entered low-lying areas in Baripada town. The district administration shifted the people of these areas to some schools and other places in the town. In Bhadrak district, the floodwaters of Baitarani marooned 10 panchayats, including Gurigan, Rahania, Solampur and Balipokhari of Bhandaripokhari and Dhamnagar blocks, Jena said.

He said the decision to release floodwaters from the Rengali dam on the day was cancelled due to the peak floods in the Baitarani system."Since the floodwaters of Baitarani go into Kharasuan river, we decided not to open the dam's sluice gate today. If there is an improvement in the situation, we will take a decision to open the gate of the dam tomorrow," he added.

The Chief Minister directed the Water Resources Department to monitor relief and rescue works in the flood-affected areas."The Chief Minister directed the department to deploy more ODRAF units in the flood-hit areas of Baleswar, Mayurbhanj and Jajpur districts," said Jena. He said following heavy floods in the Subarnarekha, most parts of Baleswar and Mayurbhanj districts are likely to be badly affected.

Stating that since some parts of Mayurbhanj district and some parts of Baleswar district, mostly Basta, Bhogarai and Baliapal blocks, are affected by floods in the Subarnarekha every year, Jena said these areas this year would be definitely affected this year as the Subarnarekha waters have crossed the danger mark since Tuesday night and continued to rise further on Wednesday.

He said the floodwaters of Subarnarekha entered Manunagar village and the low-lying areas of Bhogarai block following a breach at Dahamunda in Baleswar district.Besides, the constant rise in the Subarnarekha water level has inundated Thongadiha, Ramachandrapur, Chalanti and Dhitapura villages under Basta, Jaleswar and Baleswar blocks.

Stating that there was a 10-metre breach at the Dahamunda embankment of Subarnarekha, Jena said the repair work of the breach was underway.

He also said the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have already been deployed in Baleswar and Jajpur districts for rescue and relief operations.

"We have asked the Baleswar Collector to evacuate people from the low-lying areas, if necessary," Jena said. "We have to remain on high alert since there is possibility of heavy rains as predicted by the Met department in the district under the influence of a depression on July 30 and 31," he added. Many areas in Keonjhar district also witnessed floods due to the rising water level in river Brahmani.