Flood situation remained grim in the delta zone of Mahanadi river system in Odisha leaving vast areas marooned, 37 persons dead and affecting over 24.28 lakh people as the state government stepped up relief operation.
Despite marginal improvement in the flood scenario following respite from rains and sliding water level in some rivers, the situation in districts like Kendrapara and Puri still remained grim amid submergence of several areas, Deputy Relief Commissioner Prabhat Ranjan Mohapatra said.
Following receding water level in the river Baitarani and its tributaries, the situation in Jajpur and Bhadrak districts had started improving though many areas still remained inundated, he said.
As rainfall in upper catchment areas of the river Mahanadi declined, 20 sluice gates of the Hirakud dam were closed in phases since yesterday. Now 30 gates are open for discharge of excess water from Hirakud reservoir as against 50 sluice gates used yesterday, Mohapatra said.
The water level in Hirakud reservoir stood at 626.54 feet as against its full capacity of 630 ft, he said adding 4,01,593 cusec of water was flowing into the reservoir while the outflow was 5,22,299 cusec.
The rainfall in upstream areas of Hirakud was recorded at 0.32 mm in the last 24 hours, while the volume of rainfall during the period stood at 0.26 mm in downstream areas.
The flow of water in Mahanadi through Mundali was recorded at around 11.12 lakh cusec this evening, he said adding that water level in Mahanadi was receding at Naraj as well as Alipingal.
Around 24.28 lakh people in 4,731 villages of 133 blocks in 1,257 gram panchayats spread over 23 districts have so far been affected due to the floods, SRC office said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who took an aerial view of flood affected areas of Cuttack, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Puri districts yesterday, has announced relief for seven days to the people in areas badly affected by floods.
"Though Mahanadi river is flowing above danger mark at several places, there is no threat of substantial damage as the flow of water has come down," Mohapatra said.
The death toll in floods and heavy rains in different parts of the state climbed to 37, SRC office said adding most of the casualties were due to drowning and wall collapse.
As many as 30 small breaches occurred in embankments and around 16.3 lakh people in 830 villages were left marooned by this evening. Steps would be taken to repair the breaches soon after the water receded, it said.
Around 74,000 of those who had been evacuated from low-lying areas to safety were sheltered in relief centres in 12 districts and about 210 kitchens were operating to provide them free cooked food, SRC office said.
