5,312 villages affected The death toll in the current flood and heavy rains in Orissa climbed to 45 on Sunday with reports of seven more people perishing in the natural disaster received from various flood-hit areas. Similarly, the total number of people affected in the state rose to nearly 33 lakh, a release from the State Relief Commissioner’s (SRC) office said. According to the release, 5,312 villages across 1,381 gram panchayats and 134 blocks in the state were hit by flood; 4,87,817 people in 460 villages were still marooned and there had been 38 breaches in the river embankments so far. The figure of livestock casualties stood at 97 while 3,22,163 hectares of crop area were affected. “As many as 168 free kitchens, which have been opened across the flood-hit areas, served cooked food to 1,19,814 beneficiaries,” the release informed. The highest number of free kitchens 51 was opened in Puri district, whereas there 51 and 45 free kitchens served the flood-hit people in Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts, respectively. “A total of 603 boats have been deployed for relief and rescue operation,” the release added.