PHOTOS: Panic in Odisha as flood claims 23 lives

The flood situation is turning grim in Odisha with water rising alarmingly in Mahanadi river system prompting the state government to step up rescue operation on a war footing. Twenty three people have been killed in rain and flood so far.

In Cuttack, flood waters of Mahanadi at Mundali have gradually started inundating low lying areas of Banki, Athagad and Tigiria. Villagers are in a state of panic, as many houses are already submerged.

Odisha has been experiencing incessant rain and is expecting more in the next 48 hours. Chief Minister Naveen patnaik has asked the collectors of 13 districts including Nayagad, Cuttack, Kendrapada, Jagatsingpur and Puri to keep vigil in order to take care of the breaches promptly and immediately evacuate villagers. 

Stating that the Mahanadi river system is set to witness a major flood, Special Relief Commissioner P K Mohapatra said that more than 12 lakh cusec water was likely to flow in the river at Munduli on Thursday following heavy rains in upper catchment areas.

The flood water of Mahanadi is expected to hit the delta region on Thursday, he said, adding that since districts like Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Buodh, Khurda and Nayagarh were likely to be affected more due to flood in Mahanadi river system, the concerned authorities have been asked to be prepared.

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A large number of people have already been evacuated from low-lying areas to safe places and free cooked food is being provided to more than 17,000 affected persons.

As upper catchment areas of Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh received more rainfall, more sluice gates of Hirakud dam were likely to be opened, Mohapatra said. The water level in Hirakud reservoir stood at around 624 ft against its full capacity of 630 ft and now 17 gates were open.

Mahanadi was flowing at 26.50 metres at Naraj near Cuttack against the danger level of 26.41 mts, SRC office said, adding though around 9.87 lakh cusecs of water was now flowing in the river at Munduli and the volume would rise.

On the flood in river Baitarani, the SRC said the situation in Jajpur and Bhadrak district was grim at present but there would be considerable improvement soon.