BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Sunday delegated powers of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) to the Balasore district magistrate to manage the emergency situation arising out of the possibility of a major flood in the Subarnarekha river. Besides, one helicopter has been placed in the district to deal with the situation.
“Under orders of @Naveen_Odisha @CMO_Odisha @SRC_Odisha delegates powers of SRC to
@DBalasore to manage the emergency situation arising out of the high floods in Subarnarekha. Further HCM @Naveen_Odisha ordered to place one helicopter with @DBalasore for dealing with the emergency,” the SRC tweeted after a review of the situation.
The SRC told media persons that nearly 6 lakh cusecs of water are passing through the Galudihi barrage. Water is flowing 4 meters above the danger mark at Jamsola, he said and added that Baliapal, Bhograi, Jaleswar and Basta blocks will be most affected due to flood in Subarnarekha.
The SRC further said that the impact of floods will be severe compared to that in 2008. “There’s a possibility of the situation getting worse, so we need to remain alert. We hope there will be no flood-like situation in Budhabalanga,” he added.
Stating that the Balasore administration has been put on high alert, the SRC said that five NDRF, four ODRAF and 12 fire services teams have been deployed in vulnerable areas of the district for rescue and relief operations.
The SRC said that Bhadrak and Jajpur districts have been put on alert because of rising water level of the Baitarani river. The water level is, however, expected to recede in the next three hours, he said and added that 4 NDRF, 3 ODRAF and 12 fire services teams have been sent to these two districts.