Hans News Service Baleshwar

Theflood situation in Odisha remained grim with 12.85 lakh people affected in six districts, even as fresh areas got inundated in Baleshwar on Thursday as the Subarnarekha river flowed above the danger level, officials said. Subarnarekha witnessed peak flooding at 3 am on Thursday when the water level at Rajghat in Jaleswar touched 11.82 metres against the danger level of 10.36 meters.

At 9 am, however, the water receded to 11.6 metres, which was still above the danger level, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Rajesh P Patil said. The SRC said flooding in the river has caused fresh inundation in Bhograi and Baliapal blocks. While 28 gram panchayats in Bhograi block have been inundated, 20 blocks of Baliapal have been affected, the official said. As the floodwater submerged villages and paddy fields, the Baleshwar district administration deployed additional relief and rescue teams in the affected blocks.

“The rescue operation has been intensified by deploying personnel of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Odisha Disaster Response Force (ODRF), fire services and local police,” an official at the Baleshwar District Emergency Office said. Odisha’s Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said the water level in Subarnarekha swelled due to discharge of water from Galudih barrage in neighbouring Jharkhand.

The upper catchment areas of the river also received very heavy rainfall due to a depression. Apart from Subarnarekha, Jalaka and Budhabalanga rivers in Baleshwar were also in spate. As many as 331 villages in Baleshwar district have been affected by flooding in Subarnarekha, Jalaka and Budhabalanga rivers.

The floodwaters inundated State Highway 57, which connects Jaleswar and Chandaneswar in Baleshwar district, and vehicular movement was completely halted. Patil said that the government was optimistic that the flood situation would improve soon, but may require more days for Baleshwar to return to normalcy. The affected six districts were Baleshwar, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Mayurbhanj and Kendujhar, where floodwaters caused breach of embankments, inundation of villages and disruption of road connectivity.

A total of 4,28,475 people have been evacuated and accommodated in 728 shelters, it said. In Kendrapada district, flooding in Baitarani, Kharasrota, Brahmani and Kani rivers have raised concerns. A 50-foot breach in the Luna river embankment near Kaima Kanpur in Baraha Domanda panchayat of Rajkanika block inundated villages under four gram panchayats.