In Jajpur district, water from the Baitarani river inundated a number of blocks, including Dasrathpur and Korei, while in Keonjhar, several places in Hatadihi, Ghasipura and Anandapur have gone under water.
“Nearly 156 villages in 83 gram panchayats of Balasore district have been hit by the flood. The administration has evacuated 40,000 people by Monday noon. They have put up in 227 temporary shelters,” Balasore District Collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde said.
The state government has announced a seven-day relief package for the marooned people of Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Keonjhar and Jajpur districts, a release from the Chief Minister’s Office said.
Special Relief Commissioner P K Jena has written to district collectors of Khurda, Puri, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh, Balasore, Bhadrak, Keonjhar and Boudh, asking them to distribute sanitary napkins free of cost to women in the flood-hit areas.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had on Sunday delegated the powers of special relief commissioner to the collector of Balasore district for effective administration. A helicopter was also placed at his disposal to deal with any emergency.
Meanwhile, the IMD predicted more rainfall for Balasore on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We will take appropriate action keeping in view the IMD’s forecast,” said water resources department chief engineer BJ Mishra.
Mr Mishra also said that flood in the Mahanadi delta region is well under control, though many villages still remain marooned due to “very slow discharge of water”.
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