Thirty-five people have died and 18 lakh affected by floods triggered by heavy rains in Odisha over the past week. Bhadrak and Jajpur are the districts worst-hit by the floods, which also affected around half a million livestock and have destroyed over 15,000 houses. Crops over 2 lakh hectares have been damaged while over 70,000 people have been evacuated from various districts. On Thursday , with several more districts facing the threat of floods, the Centre assured all help to the state to tackle the situation.
Home minister Rajnath Singh said he had called up CM Naveen Patnaik and assured him all possible help. He told the Lok Sabha that National Disaster Response Force teams had already reached the state and that the government was ready to help the state beyond its contribution of 75% in the State Disaster Response Fund.
The issue was raised by BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab in zero hour. He said Odisha was facing serious floods with Mahanadi in spate and this had affected six districts -Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh, Jajpur and Puri. He said the situation could turn worse if any breach took place and sought help from the Centre in rescue, relief and rehabilitation. “Odisha is now reeling under very serious floods. A large area is getting inundated. The river Mahanadi is in full spate. Some weeks ago, Odisha was facing severe drought, but that is how nature has taken revenge to a certain extent,“ Mahtab said.
Elaborating, he said more than 13 lakh cusecs of water was flowing in Mahanadi but the embankment could hold only 10 lakh cusecs. Flood water and backwater of different rivers were creating havoc, he said. “Khurda Road-Bolangir Road has been cut off, Banki of my constituency in my district also has been cut off.“
Home minister Rajnath Singh said he had called up CM Naveen Patnaik and assured him all possible help. He told the Lok Sabha that National Disaster Response Force teams had already reached the state and that the government was ready to help the state beyond its contribution of 75% in the State Disaster Response Fund.
The issue was raised by BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab in zero hour. He said Odisha was facing serious floods with Mahanadi in spate and this had affected six districts -Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh, Jajpur and Puri. He said the situation could turn worse if any breach took place and sought help from the Centre in rescue, relief and rehabilitation. “Odisha is now reeling under very serious floods. A large area is getting inundated. The river Mahanadi is in full spate. Some weeks ago, Odisha was facing severe drought, but that is how nature has taken revenge to a certain extent,“ Mahtab said.
Elaborating, he said more than 13 lakh cusecs of water was flowing in Mahanadi but the embankment could hold only 10 lakh cusecs. Flood water and backwater of different rivers were creating havoc, he said. “Khurda Road-Bolangir Road has been cut off, Banki of my constituency in my district also has been cut off.“
No comments:
Post a Comment