Orissa flood: 61 breaches, no respite
Soumyajit Pattnaik, Hindustan Times
Bhubaneswar, September 21, 2008
First Published: 22:36 IST(21/9/2008)
Last Updated: 22:42 IST(21/9/2008)

The flood situation continues to be grim in Orissa with the Mahanadi and its tributaries breaking banks at more places and the state expecting no respite for a week.

Embankments have now been breached at 61 places. Seventeen people have been killed and 24 lakh affected in what has been described as unprecedented floods in the Mahanadi river system. So far, 2.66 lakh people have been evacuated. Crop standing on 1.55 lakh hectares has been inundated.

“The flood situation is likely to continue for another seven days. It has improved in some areas, but there is fresh concern in certain parts of the state,” Chief Secretary Ajit Tripathy said.

According to government estimates, nearly 5.7 lakh people in 1,849 villages are still marooned as communication links with many districts have snapped. As many as 473 villages in Cuttack, 150 in Jagatsinghpur, 160 in Jajpur, 645 in Puri and 421 in Kendrapara district have been submerged. While 3,683 villages in 951 gram panchayats have been affected, the surging waters have damaged 1,552 roads.