With the water level of river Subarnarekha rising at an alarming rate, the State Government on Thursday asked the Mayurbhanj and Baleswar district Collectors to stay prepared for possible floods.
About 2.85 lakh cusec of water was released from Jharkhand’s Galudih barrage into the Subarnarekha on late on Wednesday night, which is likely to reach Rajghat early Friday morning, said Deputy Relief Commissioner Prabhat Mohapatra.
“The release of excess water through 12 sluice gates of the Galudih barrage is likely to create high flood in the Subarnarekha basin area, especially in Rasagobindpur block of Mayurbhanj district and Jaleswar, Basta, Baliapal and Bhogarai areas in Baleswar districts. Collectors of these two districts have been asked to ensure that all flood preparedness arrangements, including pre-positioning of food materials and boats at strategic places, are in place,” said Mohapatra.
He said the Collectors have also been asked to deploy Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Fire Services personnel available at strategic locations to take up search and rescue operations.
The floodwater is likely to reach Rajghat at about 6 am on Friday morning. It is expected that the floodwater would swell the river two metres above the 10.36-metre danger mark at Rajghat.
Meanwhile, Baleswar Collector Pramod Das held an emergency review meeting with Tehsildars and BDOs to assess the preparedness by various departments.
“Four senior officers have been engaged in four blocks to monitor the flood situation as well as to take needful measures. The people from low lying areas would be evacuated to safer places as and when required. Adequate food stuffs have been stored and both country and power boats have been positioned. NDRF, ODRAF and fire brigade personnel have been positioned at strategic places and two more ODRAF teams have been sought,” said the Collector.