Cuttack / Mundali: The Odisha government has shifted around 1.4 lakh people to safer locations over the past four days, as a fresh wave of flood affected several districts, officials said on Monday.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said the government has evacuated 1.4 lakh people from low-lying areas across 7,834 villages under 1,360 gram panchayats. In addition, 219 wards in 38 urban local bodies (ULBs) have also been affected.
Officials said river Mahanadi also experienced a "minor flood" that crisscrossed the densely populated coastal districts, after release of excess water from the Hirakud Dam.
Water Resources Department engineer-in-chief Dilip Kumar Rout said a "minor flood" in river Mahanadi takes place when around 8 lakh cusecs of water flows at the Mundali gauge station near Cuttack. "The flow of over 10 lakh cusecs at Mundali is considered a major flood in the Mahanadi," he said.
Rout said the district administrations of Cuttack, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara have been alerted, as the swelling water level could inundate several villages in the Mahanadi delta region.
Lakhs of people in the northern districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj have already been reeling under the deluge, due to flooding in Subarnarekha, Budhabalang, Jalaka, Baitarani, Salandi and their tributaries, the officials said.
