Grave flood situation in Mahanadi river basin and its distributries has wreaked havoc in several districts of Odisha in the last few days following a week of heavy rainfall activities.
From breaches in river embankments to extensive inundation, the flood situation has brought untold miseries to people.
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Several villages in Gop block of Puri district were inundated after a 25 feet wide breach occurred on the embankment of Kushabhadra river, which is a distributary of Mahanadi, near Khandiakuda village under Ganeswar Gram Panchayat. Hundreds of villages including Ganeswarpur, Nagpur, Bedpur, Andara, Rahanagorada and Dabhar have been flooded.
A 100 feet wide breach occurred on the embankment of Rajua river near Tirimal under Jatni block in Khordha district. As a result as many as 20 villages situated in the low lying areas have been submerged.
There is a 50 feet breach in the river’s embankment near Gadasanput Lokapala and Haladiapada in Khordha. As a result, several villages including Lokapala, Haladiapada, Mandarabasta, Dholapatna, Bahabaja, Jharakata and Saradhapur have been inundated.
Khordha district administration has started the process to evacuate people from areas inundated with flood water. The weaker portions of the embankment are being repaired with sandbag packing.
Several villages in Dasarathpur block were inundated after a 65 feet wide breach occurred on the embankment of Kani river near Brahmacharipatna.
Kani, a tributary of Baitarani river, breached the embankment in the afternoon flooding over 20 villages. The breach also submerged thousands of hectares of farmland.
Meanwhile, several villages in Athagarh have been inundated due to the backward flow of water from Mundali barrage of Mahanadi. As water has entered people’s houses, they are trying to lift their furniture atop the roofs. A car has been washed away in Nidhipurgada due to swift current of the flood water.
Road connection has been cut off from Cuttack to Sambalpur as flood water is flowing on many roads.
Water is flowing on Nidhipur gada, Madhapur gada, Dhabaleswar-Paikerapur roads. Water is flowing above eight feet of Juluhula bridge. Similarly, roads in Tigiria, Badabindhani and Kalibiri have been submerged. Water has touched the black and white bullock statues at famous Dhabaleswar shrine. Bandhahata and Balisahi villages under Athagarh block have been inundated. The district administration has provided boats for emergency services.