Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep K Jena informed as many as 58 rescue teams comprising personnel of the NDRF, ODRAF, and Fire Service were deployed in Balasore and Mayurbahnj districts. Similar arrangements were also being made in adjoining districts of Bhadrak and Jajpur, he added.
"Involve functionaries of the Panchayati Raj System, women self-help groups and others concerned in evacuating people," Jena said in a message to the district collectors of Balasore and Mayurbhanj.
A deep depression over Bay of Bengal resulted in heavy rains in the northern part of Odisha. The water level in all the rivers located in the region is overflowing and breaking out of the banks spilling over the natural levees.
Moreover, subsequent flood water release from Jharkhand has accentuated the crisis. According to Jena, nearly 6 lakh cusecs of water were discharged by Jharkhand from Galudih barrage on the Subarnarekha river system, following a heavy downpour.
Most rivers flowing through the northern region of Odisha into the Bay of Bengal originate in neighbouring Jharkhand. Four blocks in the coastal Balasore district – Baliapal, Bhograi, Basta and Jaleswar – were identified as most vulnerable to the latest flooding.
On Sunday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik delegated the powers of a special relief commissioner to the collector of Balasore district so that the local administration could be more effective. A helicopter was also placed at his disposal to deal with any emergency.
Earlier, CM Patnaik had addressed the meeting with officials calling for ‘zero casualty' management of the floods in Odisha.
Odisha is already reeling under the impact of moderate floods in the Mahanadi river system following incessant rainfall, which has affected above 7 lakh people. Nearly 5 lakh are still marooned in 763 villages, according to government estimates.
Siz lives have been lost so far to rains and flood-related incidents. Two bodies were recovered in Kuchinda area of Sambalpur district on Saturday, while four people, including two minor girls, were killed in a wall collapse on Friday night.
B K Mishra, chief engineer in the department of water resources stated that there are signs of relief too as rains have subsided in the upper catchment area of the Mahanadi river.
There is an improvement in the flood situation in the Mahanadi delta, he said, adding it was expected to get better in the next couple of days.
In its latest bulletin, the India meteorology department forecast the deep depression has now weakened into a depression over northwest Chhattisgarh and adjoining northeast Madhya Pradesh and southeast Uttar Pradesh.
With inputs from PTI.
