Water receding, low pressure brewing

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BHUBANESWAR: With flood water receding from the Mahanadi and its tributaries, the State Government's hope for an immediate improve..

BHUBANESWAR: With flood water receding from the Mahanadi and its tributaries, the State Government's hope for an immediate improvement in the situation has almost dashed with a fresh low pressure brewing over the Bay of Bengal. Anticipating more rains, the Government on Tuesday asked the districts to speed up relief work.
At least 1.57 lakh people have been evacuated from vulnerable pockets by the various district administrations over the last five days. So far, over 20 lakh people in 19 districts have been affected by the flood while the number of marooned villages has risen to 1,123. While thousands are still left to fend for themselves in Puri, Kendrapara, Cuttack and freshlyinundated areas of Boudh and Nayagarh, Revenue Minister Surya Narayan Patra described the situation as 'not grim.' "In a day or two, things will be alright," he asserted even as free kitchen and emergent relief managed to cover barely five lakh people.

Three IAS officers have been sent to monitor the situation in Puri and Kendrapara which the Revenue Minister said were the most affected. Naba Kishore Nayak and SK Lohani were asked to supervise the relief operations in Puri while Hemant Sharma was sent to Kendrapara.

The ODRAF teams rescued 10 persons in Nimapara while being swept away in the Bhargavi on Tuesday. While the water discharge of Mahanadi reduced, the inflow and outflow into Hirakud have dropped significantly. Only five gates were left open by the dam authorities. Though more rains are forecast over the weekend because of the low pressure, Water Resources Secretary SC Mohapatra said it is unlikely to affect the water level in the river.

The system is expected to move over to Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Reviewing the scenario, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directed that all those living in temporary shelters be provided polythene sheets by Wednesday. Amidst the chaos, there were reports of mismanagement of food items in Kendrapara and Cuttack. Special Relief Commissioner Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra said drastic action would be taken against the guilty. Flood toll mounted to 20 on Tuesday while nine persons are still missing.