KENDRAPARA: Heavy rains in the last 24 hours have led to flash floods in Kendrapara district with villages under Aul, Pattamundei and Rajkanika blocks marooned.
The main roads from Aul to Pattamundei and Rajkanika have been submerged under five feet of flood water. Riverside villages have been cut off from the mainstream. In Dandisahi, Patarapur, Kanarapur and other villages under Pattamundai block, hundreds of people are still trapped in the flood water and are waiting for food, drinking water and medicines. The flash floods also blocked smooth flow of vehicular traffic on the road from Chandabali to Kendrapara, which was damaged at Aul and Rajkanika.
Collector Dasarathi Satpathy said 14 weak points have been identified on river banks and embankments of which, 12 are highly vulnerable to breach. Senior engineers and police have been deployed at the vulnerable spots and 292 private and 50 government boats kept ready for rescue operations, he added.
Rajkanika block was the worst-hit with over one lakh people affected by floods. Villages in the block have been marooned and boats are the only mode of communication for people here.
Standing paddy crops in large tracts of agricultural lands have been damaged. “We have lost paddy saplings that were transplanted recently. Many farmers had taken loans from different agencies and banks for cultivation and we are in a fix now as far as repaying money is concerned,” said Mahadev Behera, a farmer of Dandisahi village.