Flood Situation Grim In Odisha’s Khurda & Puri Districts

Bhubaneswar: As Odisha has been battling flood situation in many areas, districts like Puri and Khurda appear to be among the severely affected with water inundating several villages, snapping road connectivity and leaving thousands of people marooned.

Khurda and Puri are among 12 districts in the state that have been affected by the flood situation in the Mahanadi river basin in the aftermath of heavy downpour triggered by the formation of back-to-back low pressure areas over the Bay of Bengal.

In Puri, many villages in Gop, Nimapada, Astarang, Delang, Pipili, Kanas areas have been hit hard by the deluge. Large areas in these villages have been submerged with flood water, sources said.

Extensive damage appears to have been caused to agricultural land, standing crops and houses, while road connectivity remained snapped due to damage to stretches of roads in many places by gushing water.

A report from Delang said more than 10,000 people have been stranded in flood water for the last three days as flood water of Daya river inundated several villages and caused damage to many houses and other structures, besides destroying standing crops.

People are forced to spend days on rooftops as flood water entered their houses while many villages remain cut off from the rest of the world, said a villager from Munda area.

“Around 10,000 people have been left marooned in Munda panchayat area for the last three days due to submergence of vast area,” said the local Sarpanch. A boat has been deployed for providing relief materials including flattened rice and jaggery to the affected people, he added.

A pregnant woman, who got stranded in the area, has been rescued and shifted to a nearby community health centre, he said.

The situation remained equally grim in Khurda where several villages have been submerged by floodwaters of Mahanadi river following discharge of excess water from Hirakud dam.

Floodwaters submerged several villages and crop fields under Obarsingh panchayat of Khurda district. Some of the inundated villages are Krushnapur, Obarsingh, Dihakhala, Hirumul and Raipur. Water from Rajua and Daya rivers has gushed into several villages in Narangarh panchayat of the district.