Odisha: Flood situation continues to be grim in Jajpur, Kendrapara districts, say officials

Bhubaneswar: The flood situation in Odisha’s Jajpur and Kendrapara districts continued to be grim on Monday, said officials. A report from Kendrapara district said the people of several villages under 14 gram panchayats of Pattamundai block and eight gram panchayats of Aul block were still marooned. [caption id=“attachment_3879367” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The situation is grim in Kendrapara district as the Brahmani and Kushabhadra rivers are flowing above the danger mark at Patrapur, Alava and Indupur. At least seven persons have lost their lives in the floods with three deaths reported from Jajpur district and two each from Kalahandi and Malkangiri districts. Over two lakh people have been affected in the flood caused by the Brahmani river, said officials. The Special Relief Commissioner’s (SRC) office, however, said the situation in Jajpur and Kendrapara was expected to improve soon as the water level in the Brahmani had receded “significantly”. The river was flowing at 63 feet at Jenapur, against the danger level of 67 feet, and the Kharasrota was flowing at 9.6 metres at Binjharpur, against the danger level of 10.3 metres, it added. Meanwhile, those marooned in Kendrapara and Jajpur districts for three days alleged that they were being denied of relief materials and boats. “We have not received any relief material from the state government, even though we have been marooned for three days,” Upendra Kumar Mallick, Sarpanch (village head), Andra Gram Panchayat in Kendrapara district, told PTI over phone. The administration claimed that cooked food was being served to the affected people in Jajpur. “Cooked food is being provided to 17,662 people, who were evacuated due to the floods in Jajpur district. Dry food is also being distributed,” said SRC BP Sethi, adding that the restoration work of the left embankment of the Brahmani, which was breached on 29 July at Bankasahi in the Bari block, had commenced on Monday. Following a directive from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the collectors of Rayagada and Kalahandi, hit by the first phase of the floods earlier this month, have submitted damage assessment reports. Rs 6.9 crore were on Monday sanctioned by the SRC for disbursement among the affected families in Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Kalahandi and Nabarangpur districts, which badly suffered due to the July floods, the SRC office said in a statement. An assistance of Rs 1,01,900 each will be extended to 524 beneficiaries, whose houses were fully damaged, it added. Similarly, 4,499 families will receive assistance for their partly-damaged houses. An assistance of Rs 3,200 for the partly-damaged ‘kutcha’ houses and Rs 5,200 for partly-damaged ‘pucca’ houses and Rs 4,100 for the damaged huts will be extended to them. As many as 113 people will receive an assistance of Rs 2,100 each for the damages to their cattle sheds. A total amount of Rs 9,43,200, at the rate of Rs 1,800 per family, will be provided as assistance towards clothing, and Rs 10,48,000, at the rate of Rs 2,000 per family, towards utensils to 524 families, whose houses were either fully damaged or severely inundated for over two days. The collectors have been asked to ensure a proper enumeration, keeping photos of the damaged houses with those of the beneficiaries, on record and transfer the money to their bank accounts. They have also been asked to upload the list of beneficiaries, with the amount of assistance paid, on the websites of their respective districts.