24 lakh hit by Orissa floods
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22/09/2008
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Hindu (New Delhi)
Satyasundar Barik
61 breaches in river embankments 5,70,000 people in 1,849 villages are marooned
Government seeks Rs.1,500 crore for relief works
BHUBANESWAR: Flooding in the Mahanadi continued on Sunday causing 61 breaches in river embankments, leaving behind a trail of devastation submerging hundreds of villages. Lakhs of people were waiting for rescue and relief in the flooded zones.
According to State Revenue and Disaster Management (RDM) department, 5,70,000 people in 1,849 villages were marooned owing to floods in Mahanadi and many of its branch rivers.
Food packets dropped
A total of 24 lakh people of the State were affected by this flood, stated to be a massive one seen in last few decades. The official death toll figure was put at 17.
Although helicopters of the Indian Air Force made nine sorties dropping food packets and water pouches in regions cut off by floodwaters, administration was struggling to reach people stranded in inaccessible areas.
Fear of diseases
Thousands of people in Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and Puri districts took shelter along roadsides and river embankments under temporary polythene roofs depending purely on whatever little food was supplied by the administration. with Intermittent rains have made their shelters inhospitable creating fear of diseases.
As on Sunday, 17 districts were experiencing high floods and water entered 3,683 villages.