The Malkangiri administration has opened shelter camps at several places for the flood-affected people, district Collector Vishal Singh has said.
“The district has received heavy showers in past four days. Backwaters from river Godavari has entered Motu block and some other places on the banks of its tributaries Sabari and Sileru," Singh said while speaking to news agency PTI.
Singh further said that the water level in river Godavari has touched 70 feet at Bhadrachalam, four feet more than the previous record set in 2006.
The collector, who visited Motu, Kalimela and Padia blocks of the district, stated that the administration has made elaborate arrangement for the safety of people.
As many as three villages – Binayakpur, Alama and Peta – have been completed inundated in the flood. Locals in the area have to wade through the waters to reach to safety.
He also said that there has been no human casualty in the flood till now.
Meanwhile, the weather bureau has said in a bulletin said that a low pressure area that was hovering over north Odisha on Thursday now lay over the coastal part of the state.
The IMD has predicted light to moderate rainfall in most parts across the state, with heavy to very heavy rainfall in some parts of Odisha.
Hemgiri in Sundergarh received 161 mm of rain in a span of 24 hours till 8.30 am, followed by 127 mm at Deogaon in Jharsuguda. Heavy downpour was witnessed in some areas of Keonjhar, Kandhamal and Deogarh districts.
The weather bureau has also issued an orange alert of heavy to very heavy showers for today at a few places in the districts of Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Boudh, Bolangir, Bargarh, Sambalpur and Angul. It may trigger landslides or mudslides in vulnerable areas.
The MeT department has also given a yellow warning of heavy rainfall in Khurda, Puri and Cuttack districts today.
Heavy rainfall is expected in parts of several districts, including Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Sundargarh, over the next three days. Fisherfolk have been advised not to venture into the sea during the period.
Odisha has also overcome the deficit in rainfall during this monsoon thanks to the torrential downpour in several parts of the state due to a low pressure area over its coast, the IMD has said.
The seasonal cumulative rainfall between June 1 to July 14 was 341 mm against the average of 345.5 mm and heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in several districts of the state, the Meteorological Centre added. During the period six districts received excess showers, while 17 others received normal rainfall.
With agency inputs
