Thousands of people were marooned in four Odisha districts following the rise in the water level in two rivers which were in spate due to cyclone Yaas-induced heavy rains.
While the Subarnarekha river caused limited scale flood in Balasore district, the overflowing waters of the Baitarani river contributed to floods in Bhadrak, Keonjhar and Jajpur districts.
About 20 panchayats under Baliapala, Jaleswar and Bhogarai blocks of Balasore could face flood due to the rising water level in the Subarnarekha. The district administration has urged people living in low lying areas to move to safer places.
“Jharkhand has released water from the Galidih barrage due to which the flow has increased in the Subarnarekha river. In the morning, the water level at the Jamsola ghat was 50.88 metres against the danger level of 49.16 metres,” said P.K. Jena, Special Relief Commissioner
Many villages in Korei, Dasrathpur, Jajpur and Binjharpur blocks in Jajpur district were affected by flood in the Baitarani. Many people were taking shelter on the river embankment.
A breach has occurred on the embankment of Kani river, a distributory of the Baitaraini, at Malikapur that led to submergence of a vast area. The Jajpur district administration is hoping that the situation will improve as the level in Baitarani is falling.
The Baitarani also caused flood in six villages in the Bhandariphokhari block and eight villages in the Dhamnagar block of Bhadrak district. Two units of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force were deployed to carry out rescue operations in flood-hit villages.
