Bhubaneswar: Odisha government Friday intensified relief and rescue operations and prepared to air-drop food packets in flood-hit Ganjam and Gajapati districts, where thousands of people have been marooned for over 24 hours due to floods triggered by incessant rain during cyclone Arnab, officials said.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who also holds the Water Resources portfolio, expressed concern over the unexpectedly heavy rainfall in Ganjam and Gajapati districts.
“As part of the preparedness for cyclone Arnab, the administration was expecting that the calamity could have a major impact in Malkangiri. However, nobody could imagine that such heavy rainfall could occur in Ganjam district and cause severe floods,” Majhi said at a meeting here earlier in the day.
He said Patrapur block in Ganjam district received 54 cm of rain in 24 hours, while several other places in Ganjam and Gajapati also recorded unusually heavy rainfall, triggering massive floods.
Chief Secretary Anu Garg said, “The volume of rain in Ganjam in a span of 24 hours was more than the annual average rainfall in the area.”
She said the intensity of the flood current was so high that NDRF and ODRAF personnel could not move into several affected areas.
The Indian Coast Guard was, therefore, requested to airlift stranded people and drop food packets in inaccessible pockets of Ganjam district.
Around 50,000 people have been severely affected by the floods in Ganjam, Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said.
Defence helicopters have been requisitioned to air-drop food packets at 21 identified locations in Ganjam district where there is no other means of delivering food and water to the affected people, he said.
With rainfall subsiding over the past 12 hours, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) personnel are expected to distribute cooked food in areas where people remain surrounded by floodwaters, the minister said.
“It was not possible to reach the affected people even by using modern boats due to the heavy current of flowing water,” Pujari said.
He said of the 313 rescue teams deployed across the state, more than 100 were engaged in Ganjam and Gajapati districts.
The overflowing Rushikulya River has caused extensive damage in Ganjam, inundating several villages, damaging bridges and washing away roads.
Floodwaters have also entered residential areas, with Sorada, Aska, Bhanjanagar and Purushottampur among the worst-affected places.
Dasamaili village in Dharakote block has been submerged under nearly 10 feet of water, while road connectivity between Aska, Berhampur and Sorada has been disrupted.
Around five feet of floodwater is flowing over the Tankachhai-Hinjilicut road, affecting movement.
Near Achhuli, a 30-foot breach has developed along the Rushikulya river. A bridge near Patashala has also been washed away, an official said.
Floodwaters have also entered Bhanjanagar town, Sanakhemundi and Purushottampur areas.
Ganjam Collector V Keerthi Vasan said rescue and relief operations had been intensified in the affected areas and relief materials were being distributed among people since Thursday.
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