Bhubaneswar: When almost half of Odisha districts are reeling under flood fury, India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted heavy rainfall in the north Odisha and coastal districts till tomorrow morning.
According to IMD bulletin, heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20 cm) is very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak and Keonjhar while heavy rainfall of intercity 7 to 11cm would likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Sundargarh, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Gajapati and Khordha till Wednesday morning.
Similarly, heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20 cm) is very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Deogarh on Wednesday.
The IMD has also issued a yellow warning for the districts like Keonjhar, Angul, Boudh, Kandhamal, Sonepur, Kalahandi, Bargarh, Bolangir, Nuapada, Nabarangpur and Koraput for tomorrow.
It may trigger landslides/mudslides in vulnerable hilly areas, rise in water level in rivers (Subarnarekha, Burhabalang, Baitarini basins), temporarily water logging in low lying areas, occasional reduction of visibility causing traffic congestion in urban areas and some damages to Kutcha roads and vulnerable Kutcha houses, warned the Met department.
The water level in most of the swollen rivers in Odisha dropped below the danger level on Tuesday even as 6.4 lakh people remained marooned across 902 villages in the State.
Water Resources Chief Engineer BK Mishra said that most of the rivers including Subarnarekha in northern Odisha and Mahanadi in the East are flowing below the danger level. Though the peak flood is over, many villages remain inundated, he said.
Even though there has been no breach in the embankment of Subarnarekha, where peak flood was witnessed on Monday afternoon, embankments of Mahanadi and its tributaries have been breached in seven places, Mr.Mishra said.
The Water Resources Department will immediately undertake temporary repair of the embankments now, and will commence permanent repair after floodwaters recede completely likely in November or December, he said.
Water level in Subarnarekha and Budhabalanga rivers that caused floods in Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts have fallen below the danger mark. Similar is the situation of Baitarani River which inundated several villages in Jajpur and Keonjhar districts.
Mr.Mishra said the flood situation in Mahanadi River has improved. “The water level in Hirakud Dam was 623.35 feet at 9 AM. While 1.59 lakh cusecs of water was entering the reservoir, 1.04 lakh cusecs were being discharged through four gates,” he added.
However, the Jalaka River that caused flood in the Balasore block was flowing above the danger level. It was flowing at 6.45 metres at Mathani, while the danger level was at 5.5 metres.
Meanwhile, the Balasore district administration, which is dealing with flood situations in Baliapal, Bhograi, Basta, Jaleswar, Balasore Sadar and Remuna blocks, continued to evacuate more affected people to flood shelters.
Balasore District Collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde said that 40,124 people have been housed in 208 flood shelters, where 149 kitchens are operational while rescue operation is underway in marooned villages.