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Imran Khan in Bhubaneswar
The Ministry of Defence has decided to provide assistance to flood affected Orissa. "We received a faxed message from the ministry on Wednesday, confirming its assistance for relief and rescue operations in flood affected districts," said an official in the state revenue control room.
In view of the grim flood situation in the Mahanadi delta in coastal Orissa, the state government had sought army assistance on Tuesday.
K N Patnaik, the officer on special duty in the revenue control room, said the defence ministry has decided that necessary assistance in relief and rescue operations may be rendered to the civil administration by the armed forces.
However, sources in the state home department told rediff.com that though the forces have been requested to be on alert, their help is yet to be taken. "Army or Navy personnel are yet to be deployed anywhere," they said.
Over 600,000 people have been affected by the floods and as many as 11 districts spread over 70 blocks and 1,730 villages have been badly affected.
The districts of Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jajpur and Nayagarh are the worst affected.
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