Koraput: The cyclonic storm Gulab wreaked havoc in south Odisha districts after it making landfall at Santhaguda near Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh Sunday night.
The impact of the calamity has been mostly felt in Koraput and Malkangiri districts where the cyclonic storm resulted in landslides on major routes, flattened houses, snapped communication and submerged farmlands
Landslides occurred at four places in Koraput district, including two on Pottangi and Ralegada routes, one at Sunki Ghat and another between Laxmipur and Rayagada. The district experienced 680mm rainfall, while Pottangi block experienced the maximum 148mm rainfall, district emergency officer Gyanajit Tripathy said.
The landslide on Sunki Ghat has cut-off road communication from Pottangi to Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. District officials like IAS probationer Ved Bhushan, Pottangi BDO Krushna Chandra Biswasray and tehsildar Haripada Mandal were seen monitoring the road clearing work at different places.
While the debris blocking the roads at three places has been cleared, communication on National Highway-26 continues to remain disrupted at Ralegada as the route is yet to be cleared for traffic. As a result, hundreds of heavy and light commercial as well as private vehicles and two-wheelers were seen stranded on both sides of the highway.
Personnel from Works and Fire Services departments as well as the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) were seen making all efforts to clear the debris for traffic. Two teams of NDRF and ODRAF personnel have been working in Pottangi, while another team from ODRAF joined them later, District Collector Abdal M Akhtar said.
Many vehicles were seen stranded on both sides of the road as road communication was snapped after the landslide. The calamity has flattened 60 houses in 14 blocks and four townships and affected 33 villages in 27 panchayats of Koraput district.
Large trees which got uprooted and blocked traffic at eight places in Pottangi block have been cleared for traffic. Around 27,540 persons have been affected in the calamity out of which 8,321 persons have been rehabilitated in 223 transit shelters and being given free cooked food.
Strong winds and heavy rain submerged large tracts of farmlands and snapped road communication to nine villages, including Doliamba, Madkar, Phagunsineri and Phatusineri after the Madkar bridge was washed away due to heavy rain. The wind speed was around 90 km per hour in Jeypore.
Plying of Hirakhanda Express and Visakhapatnam-Kirandul train was canelled, while Covid vaccination programme has been suspended temporarily due to the calamity.
Incessant rain also lashed Malkangiri district from Sunday as the district recorded 372.30mm rainfall during the last 24 hours. As a result, rivers flowing through the district were in full spate. Floodwater was seen overflowing on MV-79 bridge disrupting communication on the route.
The district police put up red banners warning people not to step on the bridge. Over 100 large trees were uprooted and blocked traffic at various places, including the Kalimela-Motu route. Thatched and mud houses were flattened at Goudaguda and other areas of the district. However, no casualty has been reported from any part of the district, District Collector Vishal Singh said.
The district administration evacuated over 10,088 persons from low-lying and vulnerable areas and rehabilitated them in transit shelters. As many as 139 pregnant women were shifted to Maa Gruha, the district administration said.
PNN
