Cyclone and flood-hit Odisha recovering at a snail's pace

Odisha has been witnessing floods because of continuous rains for the last few days, post cyclone Phailin, forcing thousands of villagers to flee their homes.

Around 10,000 people were marooned due to incessant rainfall in Odisha, triggering a rise in floodwaters, inundating houses, clogging roads and paralysing normal life.

However, the flood situation in the state has reportedly eased, but people continue to stay in relief camps as their houses have been severely damaged.

Non-stop rains in the cyclone-hit Gajapati district of the state have led to the increase in water levels of the rivers.

An emergency officer, Basanta Kumar Hota, said rescue operations were going on in 654 villages affected by floods and people were being shifted to safer destinations.

"We have already evacuated 10,672 people and uplifted them to different locations in such flood situation. 72 gram panchayats and 654 villages have been affected," he said.

The flash floods have made life miserable for the people in Gajapati district.

A local resident, Dhanalaxmi, said though the relief supplies were being distributed by the administration, but food had not reached many of the stranded families in the villages.

"Our crops were damaged and our houses were drowned. We do not have food and water in our house, as everything is drowned. Government has provided us rice and jaggery. We are eating rice with jaggery as we do not have food," Dhanalaxmi said.

The areas that have been affected by floods include Baku, Balabhadrapur, Deipur, Adal, Chupuri, Divyasinghpur, Nuapara, Kadua Dokanda, and nine gram panchayats in Kanas block, which is reeling under floods since October 21.

Although the water had started receding, around 50,000 affected villagers have nowhere to go as their houses were almost washed away by the floods.