Odisha : 481 villages in 12 districts affected in rain- SRC

Bhubaneswar, Aug 3: As many as 481 villages in 12 districts across Odisha have been affected due to incessant rain, Special Relief Commissioner Satyabrata Sahu said here on Thursday said.

Sahu told newspersons that the District Collectors are asked to submit the damage assessment report after the water subsided.

He said a medium scale flood is apprehended in Mahanadi river system adding that the administration is ready to counter it.

The SRC said more than 9 lakh cusecs of water is likely to pass at Munduli by this evening. The flood water would take around 12 hours to reach Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Kendrapara.

The district Collectors of these three districts have been asked to remain alert, he said.

Meanwhile , the leave of all government officials in Puri district has been cancelled in view of a possible flood situation.

Engineer-in -Chief Water Resources Department Bhakta Ranjan Mohanty said the water level in Hirakud Reservoir is rising following heavy rains in the upper catchment area in Chhattisgarh.

The Hirakud reservoir has now 610 feet of water and a decision has been taken not to release more water from the reservoir till the water level in the downstream receded.

Mohanty said though water is flowing above the danger level in Baitarani river at Akhuapada. No reports of any damages caused due to flooding in Baitarani river has been received so far.

He said the Brahamani river was flowing at 22 metre at 12 PM at Jenapur against the danger level of 23 metre.

The SRC said the administration is ready to counter the flood situation.The officials are instructed to ensure 24×7 patrolling of weak river embankments and to evacuate people from low lying areas to safer places where it is required.

As many as 8 NDRF teams, 13 ODRAF teams and 62 Fire and Emergency teams are deployed in vulnerable districts to help the district administration.