Bhubaneswar: The twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have been flooded with rainwater following incessant heavy rain since Friday night.
In view of the situation, the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) has ordered closure of all schools in these two cities on Saturday.
In Odisha capital, rainwater inundated low-lying areas of Jayadev Vihar, Laxmisagar, Rasulgarh, Palasuni, Bomikhal, Acharya Vihar, Sailashree Vihar, Gouri Nagar and Lewis Road. The ODRAF team have rescued 12 persons in Jayadev Vihar areas.
Due to heavy rain, a portion of the wall of the Raj Bhawan collapsed in the morning. As a result, the deer which were kept inside premises escaped. Efforts are on to trace it.
In another incident, a portion of a wall of the Biju Patnaik International Airport near the Kargil slum collapsed. The Airport authorities are repairing the wall on a war-footing.
To take stock of the situation, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) in a meeting here on Friday, formed a team comprising of 13 Nodal officers 40 engineers to clear waterlogging in the city.
The team has started the work with the help of 30 high-powered pumps, 5 JCB machines, 2 proclain machines and 5 cesspool machines.
Considering the gravity of the situation, the leave of the BMC staff have been cancelled and they have been asked to join their duty on Sunday.
In Cuttack, the district administration has decided to provide cooked food to people residing in low-lying areas. Efforts are on to release rainwater into Taladanda Canal. About 195 mm rainfall was recorded in Cuttack by 6 pm on Saturday. However, evacuation of rainwater has been halted as most of the water pumps have gone out of order.
Rainwater has also entered Bidanasi Police Station in the city.
Considering the situation, Commissioner of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) Bikash Mohapatra has cancelled the leave of the corporation employees till Monday and asked them to take up relief and rescue works in the city.
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