Flood alert sounded in four dists as rivers continue to swell

Bhubaneswar: Heavy rainfall in Jharkhand and Jamshedpur in the last 12 hours left the Subarnarekha river swelling with the water level crossing the danger mark of 10.36 metres and reaching 11.07 metres near Rajghat in Balasore district on Thursday morning.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi said possible flood alert has been sounded in four districts of Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Kendrapada and Balasore.
“Collectors of these districts have been asked to deploy Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and fire services teams, if requires,” he said .
As many as 90 villages and agricultural land under 30 panchayats in Balasore district were submerged following the sudden increase in water level.
“Ten ODRAF teams have been kept ready and additional 10 teams have been trained to deal with possible flood situation. Besides, a NDRF unit has also been kept in Balasore,” the SCR added.
Meanwhile, flood water has started entering several parts of Rourkela and Sundargarh with Brahmani, Koel and Ib rivers flowing above the danger mark. The water level in the Brahmani was above 78.840 metres after crossing the danger mark of 78.420 metres.
According to reports, Balughat and Dandiapalli areas near Panposh in the city have been affected. The local administration has shifted people living in low-lying areas to safer places.
Similarly, Ranibagicha and Mahadevpada in Sundargarh have been inundated due to rising water level in Ib river.
In Bhadrak, several houses at Padhani and Barada panchayats under Dhamnagar block remained inundated. “Most of the roads impacted by the recent flooding have been repaired. Efforts are underway to rescue the people, who are still marooned. We are keeping a close watch on the situation”, Bhadrak collector Gyanaranjan Das said.
Meanwhile, three senior IAS officers visited Jajpur, Bhadrak and Rayagada districts to oversee the flood situation and assess the damage as per the direction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rainfall in one or two places in north Odisha in the next 24 hours.