BHUBANESWAR/JHARSUGUDA: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday directed officials to be fully prepared to deal with the situation arising out of continuous rains due to a low pressure in the Bay of Bengal, and take all precautionary measures.
Reviewing the preparations at a high-level meeting at Jharsuguda, in which 17 district collectors took part through video conference, the chief minister said due to heavy rains many districts may face flood-like situation.
He directed the collectors to ensure that the control rooms at the district and block levels function around the clock and their data is updated regularly, while also advising them to take necessary steps in view of the emerging situation.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), three districts of Koraput, Malkangiri and Kalahandi are likely to be affected heavily, while 14 other districts, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Balangir, Rayagada, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Puri, Khurda, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara have also been issued alerts.
Because of heavy rains in the upper catchment of Mahanadi river, there is likely to be an increase in the water level by Saturday morning. Around 5.64 lakh cusecs of floodwater was flowing through Mahanadi in Mundali at 9 am on Friday.
The flow is likely to rise further, touching 6.5 lakh cusecs by Friday night. The water level will likely touch 7 lakh by Saturday morning, official sources said.
Stating that there may be urban flooding in many towns due to the rains, Majhi also directed the ULBs to make advance arrangements to drain out water from areas likely to face waterlogging. He asked the engineers of the Water Resources department and the district collectors to keep a close watch on the vulnerable points of the river and canal embankments as there are possibilities of breaches taking place.
Majhi directed the ODRAF and Fire services to be fully prepared for immediate assistance, especially in low-lying areas or places vulnerable to flash floods and deploy units. He asked the collectors to identify hilly areas where there are possibilities of landslides and take precautionary measures.
The chief minister said multi-purpose flood shelters have been kept ready for use and food and other essential items have also been stocked in them. He advised people from low-lying areas to go to the shelters. Instructions were also given to keep adequate stock of medicines, snakebite injections, cattle and livestock feed in various areas.
The chief minister asked the officials of Energy department to be prepared to deal with power outages and take immediate restoration measures. Stating that Odisha has the capability to deal with natural disasters and has been praised at the national-level for this, he expected that the situation arising out of incessant rains would be properly managed this time.