Flood Havoc In Odisha: 16 Dead, 8 Lakh People Hit, 3 Lakh Hectare Farmland Destroyed

Bhubaneswar: Amid Coronavirus pandemic, it seems nature has unleashed its fury in Odisha. Series of low pressures on Bay of Bengal has now resulted in severe flood situation in the State destroying at least 3 lakh hectares of farmland, leaving as many as 16 people dead and 8 lakh others badly hit.

Addressing presser after reviewing flood situation in the State, SRC Pradeep Jena informed that Bhadrak and Jajpur districts are worst hit in the flood. As many as 610 villages in Bhadrak and 560 in Jajpur have been affected.

“Preliminary estimation reveals that 8 lakh people and 3 lakh animals have been affected by the flood. About 8,000 houses were damaged whereas 16 persons have lost their lives in wall collapses and after being swept away by floodwater,” Jena said.

A complete assessment of damage will be carried out after the water recedes in the rivers and the low lying areas, the SRC added.

Flood Situation

SRC Pradeep Jena further said that the discharge of floodwaters in Mahanadi which have been on rise for last few days due to incessant rainfall in the upstream of the river will reach Munduli tomorrow.

“Due to heavy rainfall in Chhattisgarh, massive amount of water is entering Hirakud dam. The current inflow of water into the dam is 8, 95,600 cusec per second against inflow of 7,62,195 cusec per second. The water will reach Munduli tomorrow. By that time, the water flow in Munduli will be 10 to 10.5 lakh cusec per second," Jena said adding that the discharge will continue to remain in peak for 6 to 9 hours.

“From Munduli, the floodwaters will enter Mahanadi delta and flow into its tributaries like Kathajodi, Birupa, Devi, Daya, Bhargavi, Luna and Chitrotpala. We are hopeful that the flood situation will improve in next 2 to 3 days,” he added.

(Edited By Suryakant Jena)

Read More:

Odisha Weather Update: MeT Issues Warning, More Rain Likely From Sept 1