Four persons in Mayurbhanj and Bhadrak districts died after being swept away in flood water on Friday.
The deceased are Maisia Murmu (17) of Badafela village under Morada block in Mayurbhanj and Santosh Jena (11) and Sunanda Jena (11) of Sohada village under Dhamnagar block in Bhadrak district.
While the body of another person was yet to be ascertained, one Somanath Naik (35) of Kusalda village in Gopabandhu Nagar block, who was swept away on Thursday, is missing.
Sources said both Santosh and Sunanda, who were studying in Class V, were swept away near Bhatia slope while coming to their school. Another Class-IX student, Sujit Jena, was rescued and admitted in the hospital in critical condition. Locals have demanded compensation for the bereaved families.
Meanwhile, even as three rivers - Surarnarekha, Budhabalanga and Jalaka - began receding since morning, the flood situation continued to be grim in the northern parts of the worst hit Balasore district for third consecutive day on Friday.
Over three lakh people in 444 villages under 78 panchayats of six blocks in the district have been affected by flood. Reports reaching here from remote areas of the district stated that thousands of people were starving since Wednesday as they were cut off from the mainland with connecting roads remaining inundated. Though Bhogarai, Jaleswar, Basta, Baliapal, Basta, Sadar and Remuna blocks have been affected by flood, the district administration failed to provide detailed information.
A flood victim from Kasipada said his village was under flood water for the last three days. “We have consumed whatever dry food we had in stock. We have no money to purchase anything as our household items have been washed away by flood water,” he said.
The situation in remote areas of Baliapal, Jaleswar and Bhogarai blocks is more intense. Even as the administration claimed that 95 villages were marooned till date, it has no information about the relief distribution.
Meanwhile, Collector Parameswaran B, Project Director of DRDA, two sub-collectors, DPC of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and other revenue officials visited the flood hit areas. The Collector has asked the block officials to expedite relief and rescue operation.