Water recedes, bringing relief to flood-hit villages

BHUBANESWAR: The water level of Subarnarekha river has started receding bringing relief to several villages lying in its catchment area in Balasore district, which were marooned for the last two days.
Official sources said people of at least 31 villages in two blocks - Baliapal and Bhograi - of Balasore district were affected due to the flash flood.The river at Rajghat was flowing 0.64 metre above the danger level by evening, sources here said.
"There is no reason to panic. We expect the water level at Rajghat to come down to normal by midnight," said deputy relief commissioner, Pravat Ranjan Mohapatra. There was also a dip in rainfall in north Odisha in the last 24 hours, he added. Meanwhile, the Met office has predicted rain at a few places in north Odisha in the next 24 hours.
District collector (Balasore) Pramod Das said the situation is no longer alarming. He, however, added that the district administration is taking all care to reach the affected people.
Rabindra Kumar Nath (55) of Gobardhanpur under the Jaleswar block reportedly drowned and his body is yet to be detected, Das said.
The district administration has deployed 23 country boats, 30 power boats and two sections of NDRF team at vulnerable points of different blocks. Adequate quantity of dry food for relief has also been stored, he pointed out.
With water flooding several bridges at Baharda, Mathani and Tejagala, road communication between Basta and Baliapal had remained disrupted. People in several low-lying areas, who had shifted their families to safer places, have started returning.