BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday conducted an aerial survey of flood-affected areas in south Odisha districts and reviewed relief and rehabilitation measures at Jeypore as heavy rains following a deep depression caused extensive damage in these areas.
The chief minister, accompanied by Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari, visited villages in Kotpad block of Koraput district including Pinjili and Chandili. He inspected the relief camp set up at Chandili high school and interacted with the displaced families sheltered there. He enquired about their problems, immediate requirements and assistance being provided by the administration.
The chief minister checked arrangements for cooked food, drinking water, baby food and medicines. “The government stands with every flood-affected person. After assessment of the damage, necessary assistance will be provided as per prescribed norms,” he said.
Later, the chief minister chaired a review meeting at Jeypore to assess the flood situation and damage caused by heavy downpour in Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts. While Koraput and Nabarangpur districts have been affected by floods in Indravati river, in Malkangiri Saberi river has caused damage.
The Revenue minister announced that families staying in relief camps would be provided food, clothing and other essential items for 15 days. Priority will be given to providing assistance and compensation to all eligible flood-affected people as per government norms, he added.
It was decided at the meeting to deploy a technical team to facilitate drainage of stagnant floodwater from agricultural land and recommend measures required to restore agricultural activities. Officials were directed to take coordinated measures for dewatering fields and facilitate resumption of cultivation.
Meanwhile, flood threat looms large in coastal districts as two more gates of Hirakud dam were opened on Sunday to discharge additional water entering the reservoir. Excess water is now being discharged through 24 gates. Water level in reservoir is at 628.29 feet against full reservoir level of 630 feet.
Chief engineer of Water Resources department Dilip Kumar Rout said 7 lakh cusec of water will flow down the Mahanadi river to reach Mundali near Cuttack on late Sunday night. This will increase to 8 lakh cusec by Monday morning. This will result in a small flood, which will cause submergence of low-lying areas in Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur and parts of Kendrapara district.
According to the SRC office, recent deep depression resulted in heavy rainfall and flooding in 13 districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Keonjhar, Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Bolangir and Jagatsinghpur. More than 75,000 people had been evacuated to safer places in these districts.
Official sources said that 395 relief centres have been opened for shelter of affected people.
