Flood situation worsens in Orissa
Sampad Mahapatra
Monday, September 22, 2008, (Kendrapara)

Hundreds of families in Kendrapara are headed for the highway.

Fresh breaches in river embankments have flooded new areas in the coastal district with an alarming pace, forcing people to flee their homes.

"The water around our village has been rising too fast and that's why we decided to get out," says one local.

The water levels of Mahanadi and other branch rivers are showing a receding trend near Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, but downstream in areas like Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack the water-level is rising steadily.

There have been 61 breaches and that explains why water has been spreading in all directions, inundating fresh areas.