Flood situation grim, death toll at 20

The recent spell of flood which has struck the northern regions of the state continued to play havoc with the official death toll climbing to 20 and the Brahmani river flowing above the danger level while Baitarani and Subarnarekha rivers have receded below the danger level.

A four-member inter-ministerial Central team arrived in Bhubaneswar on Monday at 2 pm and conducted an aerial survey of the flood situation in Jajpur, Bhadrak and Kendrapara districts. The team members landed at Jajpur and held discussions with the district collector.

The team is scheduled to visit Sambalpur, Bargarh and Sonepur districts on Tuesday.

The Central team consists of Sunil Kumar Verma, Chief Engineer, Union ministry of road transport and highways, M C Diwakar, director, Ministry of agriculture, A K Satpathi, regional director, regional office of health & family welfare-Bhubaneswar and Ambarish Nayak, superintendent engineer (coordination) of Mahanadi & Eastern Rivers' Organization.

Meanwhile, the state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited the flood affected area of Banki in Cuttack district and also reviewed the flood situation of the state in a high-level meeting.

“The situation is grave at Rajkanika in Kendrapara district, Bari in Jajpur district and in some parts of Bhadrak district. Officials have been deployed in the flood hit areas and rescue & relief operations are going on,” said minister for revenue & disaster management S N Patro.

The second spell of flood has affected 2.18 million people in 67 blocks under 693 gram panchayats in 3,415 villages and 12 urban local bodies in 10 districts of the state.

The state government has evacuated 121,159 people while 1,176 villages still remain marooned. As many as 379 free kitchen centres have been opened, benefiting 151,887 people while 463 boats have been deployed.

Seven helicopters of Indian Air Force and Indian Navy have been pressed into service for air dropping of food packets in the most affected flood hit districts of Jajpur, Kendrapara and Bhadrak.

Fifty five units of Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), 77 units of National Defence Reserve Fleet (NDRF) and 28 units of fire services have been deployed for search and rescue operations.