Orissa flood situation may worsen, toll 29

The flood situation in Orissa may not improve anytime soon as another depression is being formed over the Bay of Bengal...

The flood situation in Orissa may not improve anytime soon as another depression is being formed over the Bay of Bengal that would only add to the woes of the 37 lakh flood-affected people in 18 districts.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the flood had affected 5,514 villages and damaged 51,417 houses. The official death toll has gone up to 29. The flood had caused 73 breaches on major river embankments and cut off roads at 939 places. State disaster management minister Manmohan Samal said the Naval command at Vizag had been alerted as the flood situation was expected to worsen in view of formation of another depression over the Bay of Bengal.

Three IAF helicopters are already engaged in air-dropping of food packets in marooned areas. Central paramilitary forces have been pressed into relief and rescue operations in Kendrapara and Cuttack districts. Communication links to Kendrapara town have been almost snapped since Saturday night while Banki, Athagarh and Choudwar blocks of Cuttack cut off from the rest of the world. The National Highway connecting Puri and Bhubaneswar remained cut off with a breach on Bhargavi river inundating the road at some places.

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Despite falling water level in most of the rivers, including the swollen Mahanadi, relief operation in flood-ravaged areas was hit due to shortage of manpower and boats. Air-dropping of food packets and essential items could not reach a large number of flood-affected people in Cuttack, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts for similar reasons.

Besides, intermittent rains triggered by a low pressure over the Bay of Bengal were hampering relief operations.

Officials closed a large number of sluice gates at Hirakud Dam, opening only 11 as the water level stood at 628.52 feet against its full capacity of 630 feet. The CM ordered provision of relief to the flood-hit people for 15 days. He said those people taking shelter on embankments or other open spaces would be shifted to school buildings and provided with cooked food.

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