The country may be cheering the relatively safe departure of Cyclone Phailin, but its aftermath has brought in massive flood in parts of Odisha and left Bihar reeling with torrential rains.
With several rivers in spate in Odisha, incessant rains during the last 48 hours have left over 2.5 lakh people marooned in Balasore, one of the two worst-hit districts along with Mayurbhanj.
Even as the State struggled to cope with the trail of destruction caused by the “very severe” cyclone that slammed Gopalpur on Saturday night, the situation due to floods caused by Phailin-induced rainfall in the two districts was described by an official as critical. Major rivers like Budhabalanga and Subarnarekha are in spate following sudden inflow of water, according to Odisha Special Relief Commissioner PK Mohapatra. Bhadrak district was also affected while flood fury loomed large over Ganjam district, the worst hit by the cyclone.
Teams from Army, Navy and IAF besides NDRF and ODRAF were deployed for rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected areas in Odisha.The death toll in the impact of the cyclone rose to 27 with four people being killed in the floods in Mayurbhanj and Bhadrak districts.“Phailin has dissipated but the heavy rains and floods in its aftermath is a cause of concern,” a Minister from Odisha said.
“We are starting air-dropping of food packets in Balasore district immediately. The flood situation in the district is a cause of concern,” State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister SN Patro said. Mohapatra said the flood situation in Balasore district was ‘critical’ with flood waters of Budhabalanga river inundating villages in Remuna, Balasore Sadar, Jaleswar and Bhograi blocks.
Patro said besides flooding the four blocks in Balasore, Budhabalanga has also inundated ten blocks in neighbouring Mayurbhanj district. Besides Baripada, the district headquarter town of Mayurbhanj, Betanati and Badasahi blocks have been severely hit in the floods.
Hundreds of thousands of people who fled the country’s strongest cyclone in 14 years also returned home to scenes of devastation, as rescue teams started repairing flooded towns, tangled power lines and tens of thousands of destroyed thatched homes.A senior Navy officer said the military was being deployed in the flood-hit areas as per the request of the State Government.
“Three teams of divers of INS Chilika will participate in the rescue operation in Balasore,” he said.“We have launched a joint operation with the State Government in flood-hit areas. At least 450 Army personnel along with boats and other logistics have reached the spot. We have some more Armymen in reserve,” the officer, who attended a flood review meeting in Bhubaneswar, said.
Meanwhile, Bihar is witnessing continuous rainfall and gusty winds for the last 24-hours. At many places trees and electric poles have been uprooted and electric supply in some localities of the State Capital was disrupted for as many as ten hours causing great inconvenience to the people.
The Bihar Government has already canceled leaves of top district and State officials, including doctors, to meet any untoward situation when Phailin enters the State.
Three persons, including two women, were killed in Phailin-related incidents in Bihar’s Darbhanga and Madhepura districts to take the toll to four, police sources said.
A woman, identified as Yamuna Devi (45) was killed when her thatched house collapsed and fell on her during heavy rains in Dhoi Ghat locality in Darbhanga district, while an unidentified person died due to similar reasons in Balha village in the same district, the sources.
Confirming the death of these two persons, the Sub-Divisional Officer, Kari Mahto said the kin of the victims will be given compensation as per the disaster management provisions.
In a related incident in Madhepura district, an unidentified woman was killed after a tree uprooted and fell on her in a market place under Murliganj police station area while she was walking back home after offering prayers at a temple, the sources said.
A 70-year-old man Shrilal Yadav was killed after his thatched house collapsed due to incessant rains and trapped him under its debris in Mathahi village of Madhepura district last night, they said.