CUTTACK: A nine-year-old girl was swept away in the Mahanadi river near Ghodabar under Banki sub-division, one of the worst-affected pockets of Cuttack district, even as the flood situation continued to remain grim despite receding trends in the river systems. The girl identified as Padmabati Dehuri of Ghodabar village under Subarnapur panchayat of Banki reportedly slipped into the surging waters of the Mahanadi. Her body has been retrieved. The death roll in the floods has risen to two with another 48-year-old man feared dead at Kandarpur village under Athagarh block. The man, Swetambar Dalai, was swept away in the Mahanadi and has been missing since. Meanwhile, even as water flow in the Mahanadi and the Kathjodi showed gradual decline, flood water took over newer regions over the past 24 hours. The number of villages affected by the floods rose to 496 from 479 while the affected population shot up to 5.15 lakh from around 3.33 lakh on Sunday. Banki, Athagarh, Niali, Kantapada, Mahanga, Tangi Choudwar, Nischintkoili and Narsinghpur areas continued to struggle under grim flood conditions. The situation would continue to be risky over the next 24 hours as the discharge of water into the sea is painfully slow owing to the high tides. The water discharge through Munduli is still over 12 lakh cusecs, which is quite substantial and can cause more damage by surge of backwaters. By Monday evening free kitchens had been opened at 53 points and 22,000 people were provided with cooked food.As relief and rescue operations assumed pace, reports of trouble also came in from several parts. At Niali, the BDO of Kantapada was locked up in his office by a group of people who had come down to demand supply of relief to their area. The matter was, however, sorted out after the administration assured them of verifying the status of the village in question and providing relief. “A team will hold ‘in camera’ verification of the villages and the eligibility for relief would be assessed,” Collector Girish SN said.
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