Phailin gone but tale of woes is on as Odisha battles floods

It is a double tragedy for the calamity-prone eastern state of Odisha. Barely hours after being battered by the killer cyclone Phailin, the state is now faced with a grim flood situation with the rise of water levels in major rivers.

Cyclone-induced heavy downpour has caused water levels to rise menacingly in rivers such as Subarnarekha, Budhabalunga, Baitarani, Rushikulya and Bansadhara, threatening millions of people in the northern and south-central parts of Odisha.The districts which are affected by the floods include Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Ganjam, and Nayagarh. Meanwhile, the severe cyclonic storm Phailin, after stepping out of Odisha has weakened into a deep depression and is currently centred over Jharkhand and adjoining north Chhattisgarh.

"Though the cyclone has stepped out of the state, four blocks in Balasore are in the grip of a massive flood. Teams of National Disaster Response Force, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and Army personnel have been deployed to the affected areas to carry out relief and rescue work. Choppers will also be pressed into service for the air dropping of food packets," said revenue & disaster management minister S N Patro after a special review meeting.

Special Relief Commissioner Pradipta K Mohapatra said, "In Mayurbhanj district, 10 blocks have been affected out of which two blocks- Badasahi and Betanati have been severely affected. Similarly in Jajpur district, three blocks are flood hit - Korei, Jajpur and Dasarathpur. But our priority is Balasore."

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and chief secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra on Monday made aerial surveys of the devastation wrought by Phailin in Ganjam district. Patnaik, who also visited four cyclone hit villages, told media persons that the Odisha government would seek help from the Centre for relief and restoration work in the cyclone -ravaged state, particularly Ganjam, the worst-hit.

He, however, said the restoration work is going on on a war footing and normalcy would return soon. The official death toll due to Phailin and the consequential floods has been pegged at 21. Ganjam district has recorded the highest casualty at nine, followed by three each for Puri and Balasore districts. Two more have been killed in Nayagarh while one death each has been reported in the other affected districts of Bhadrak, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda and Bolangir.

According to the latest official figures, 11.8 million people have been affected due to the cyclonic storm and floods in 15,578 villages under 1,924 gram panchayats under 128 blocks of the state. A cultivable area of 437,723 hectares has been affected. As many as 248,822 houses have been damaged.

The scale of evacuation, billed as the biggest ever, has seen 10,13,647 people shifted ahead of the landfall by the cyclonic storm and later in the wake of floods.