Bhubaneswar

The flood situation in Odisha remained grim with over 1 lakh people still affected in six districts, despite a fall in water levels in major rivers, officials said.

A total of 79 rescue teams are working in the flood-hit districts of Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Keonjhar, Nabarangpur and Koraput.

In Bhadrak district, 75,432 people in 70 villages under 18 gram panchayats of Tihidi and Chandabali blocks remained affected on Tuesday, while over 21,000 people in 41 villages under Binjharpur and Dasarathpur blocks of Jajpur district were also impacted by the deluge, they said.

More than 5,000 people across five blocks and one urban local body in Kendrapada district remain hit.

Due to heavy rainfall over the past three days, some areas of Keonjhar, Nabarangpur, and Koraput districts have also been affected, officials said.

Local administrations evacuated 1,622 people in Nabarangpur district and 660 people in Koraput district. They have been accommodated in relief camps, they said.

A total of 79 rescue teams, including 28 of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), one of the NDRF, and 50 of fire services, have been deployed for prompt rescue and relief operations in the affected areas, officials from the revenue and disaster management department said.

The flood situation is expected to improve in the state as all major rivers, including Baitarini, Jalaka, Vansadhara, Brahmani, Salandi, and Budhabalanga, were flowing below the danger level on Tuesday, Water Resources Department engineer-in-chief Dillip Kumar Rout said.

All major rivers are flowing below the danger level. So, there is no flood in the rivers. But, several villages remained marooned as the water had not receded, he said.

Rout said the water level of the Mahanadi River will rise on Wednesday due to water release from Hirakud Dam.

At Mundali in Cuttack district, the water flow is estimated to increase from 6 lakh cusecs to 6.7 lakh cusecs, a marginal rise that does not pose a risk of major flooding, he said.

"The floodwater is expected to persist for 8-10 hours before receding. As about 6.77 lakh cusecs of water flowed in the river in the recent past without causing any flood, we expect that no flood-like situation will arise this time too," he said.

The government has asked district administrations to remain prepared to deal with any emerging situation, address water-logging and localised flooding in low-lying areas, closely monitor the condition of roads and underpasses, and remain alert to possible damage to vulnerable structures and kutcha roads.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the low-pressure area moved to Jharkhand and the neighbourhood. The system is likely to move nearly west-northwestwards over the next 24 hours. The IMD has not issued any rainfall warning for Wednesday in Odisha.

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From June 1 to August 25, the state received cumulative rainfall 1,100.6 mm, which is 32.4 per cent above normal rainfall of 831.5 mm.