BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Sunday sounded a high alert after the IMD forecast extremely heavy rainfall in at least seven districts following the formation of a fresh low pressure over the Bay of Bengal.
Over 5.15 lakh people have been affected in the latest round of floods in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts.
Chief secretary Anu Garg reviewed the preparedness of the state administration to tackle the calamity. “The district collectors have been asked to remain on high alert in view of the weather predictions from August 16 to 18. The state government has evacuated over 2.37 lakh people from the vulnerable pockets and housed them in 293 relief camps,” she said.
Three senior IAS officials have been deputed to Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur to monitor the relief and rescue operations. While managing director of Odisha Mining Corporation Sudhansu Mohan Mishra has been put in charge of Bhadrak district, MD of Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation S Sudarshan Chakravarty has been rushed to Balasore. Excise Commissioner P Anvesha Reddy has been given charge of Jajpur district. Leaves of all government employees have also been cancelled and those on leave have been asked to join duty immediately, she said.
The IMD has sounded red alert for Balasore, Bhadrak, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj, predicting very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the four districts.
The national weather forecaster has also issued orange warning for Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal and Khurda districts where heavy rain is likely to continue till August 18. The intensity of rainfall is likely to decrease from August 19.
Garg said the next three days will be important for Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts, which have been the worst-affected due to back-to-back floods in the last one month. “The floods have affected 947 villages under 331 gram panchayats across 49 blocks and five urban areas in six districts. Power supply has been disrupted and over 75,000 consumers are without electricity because of widespread inundation in their villages. The Energy department has been asked to restore power supply to the affected consumers as soon as the flood water recede,” she said.
As per latest reports, 312 students of a government residential school were marooned in Kulashahi village of Pattamundai block of Kendrapara district. The district administration has started rescue operations to safely evacuate them from the submerged school.
In another incident, the newly-constructed section of the national highway 53 along the Paradip-Chandikhol stretch near Nilachal bazaar in Marshaghai of Kendrapara district caved in, trapping three trucks in it. No casualties or injuries, however, have been reported.
The chief secretary said additional chief engineers of the Water Resources department have been directed to oversee the safety of embankments and carry out immediate repairs in case of breaches. Around 90 rescue teams including 36 ODRAF, seven NDRF and 47 Fire Services teams have been deployed in vulnerable areas.
Teams from the Health, Water Resources, Housing and Urban Development and Fisheries and Animal resources departments have also been deployed in the affected areas, she added.
