Despite the water level of major rivers in northern Odisha receding below the danger mark, around 100 villages across Balasore, Bhadrak, and Jajpur districts remain submerged for the fifth consecutive day. An official reported that the floodwaters continue to affect approximately 30,000 people.
In Balasore, about 80 villages in the Baliapal and Bhograi blocks are still encircled by floodwater up to four feet high. A similar situation is affecting 14 villages in Jajpur’s Dasrathpur block, and several pockets in Bhadrak’s Dhamnagar block also remain underwater.
"Although the water level in the river Baitarani has receded, floodwaters have remained stagnant in our villages for the past five days. As a result, it damaged my house, destroyed household articles, stored grain and fodder for the livestock," said Rabinda Samal, a flood victim from Dasrathpur. He explained that he had to wade through waist-deep water to get home from the relief centre and found his house in a terrible state.
"Presently, I neither have a house to live in nor any food to eat. Although we are being provided a little quantity of rice as relief by the administration, how can we prepare the food as our houses and 'chula' (oven) are still underwater."
Another resident, Sabita Swain, criticised the government's claim that the flood situation has improved. "The government claims that the flood situation has improved after the water level receded in the rivers. But the fact remains that water has now accumulated in our villages after being drained from the river. How could the flood situation improve till the people are in relief camp and unable to light their 'chula'," she questioned. She added that contaminated drinking water is a significant problem. Swain explained that the Dasrathpur area was suddenly inundated due to a 100-foot breach on the embankment of the Kani river, a tributary of the Baitarani. "We could not find time to collect our essentials and ran away from the village, seeing the flood fury," she said.
More than 8,000 people in at least 14 villages of Kasapa and Malikapur gram panchayats are still marooned, and over 5,000 people have been evacuated and sheltered in nearby school buildings since Saturday. They are struggling to salvage their belongings, and many have lost their houses, household items, food, and livestock. Flood victims have also complained about the scarcity of clean drinking water and a lack of fodder for their livestock.
Akash Pattanaik, the Block Development Officer (BDO) for Dasarathapur, said that cooked food is being provided in 25 relief camps. "The water has receded from the rivers, and we are taking all sorts of measures to provide rice and dry food as relief materials in the marooned areas," he said. He added that the authorities were also prioritising the provision of fodder for livestock and that repair work on the breach would start on Friday.
In Balasore district, this is the sixth flood spell since June this year caused by the Subarnarekha river. Although the lives of people and cattle were saved due to timely evacuation, the entire populations of Baliapal, Bhograi, Basta, and Jaleswar have lost their Kharif crops. A local sarpanch noted that affected people have lost a year's worth of food grains due to the frequent floods and called on the government to announce a special package for the affected residents of the four blocks in Balasore.
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