Bhubaneswar, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday began an aerial survey of areas in Ganjam, Koraput and Nabarangpur inundated by rivers flowing in spate following heavy rain that has badly hit 13 districts, where local authorities have started moving people to safety.
In Mayurbhanj, authorities of Similipal National Park have announced temporary closure of tourist destination Devkund as several streams and water channels have swelled significantly, an official said.
In view of the calamity, Majhi decided to review the situation along with Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari and the state’s Special Relief Commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil. The chief minister will cover badly affected areas in Ganjam, Koraput and Nabarangpur districts in the southern region before landing at Jeypore in Koraput district to hold a review meeting. By Saturday, the state government moved more than 70,000 people from low-lying areas and housed them in 395 relief camps as their villages came under water. The recent deep depression over the Bay of Bengal resulted in heavy rainfall and flooding in 13 districts Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Keonjhar, Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Bolangir and Jagatsinghpur, officials said. The water level of the Subarnarekha River was flowing at 11.68 metres at Jaleswar’s Rajghat at 6 am against the danger level of 10.36 metres.
Because of a technical snag in the helicopter, sources said, however, their survey was delayed by around two hours.
This has led to flooding in the villages in Bhograi, Jaleswar, Baliapal and Basta blocks, officials said.
