50 lakh people affected in Orissa floods

By Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR, JULY 19. Orissa was on the verge of another spell of devastating floods with more water being released from the Hirakud reservoir on the Mahanadi, and heavy rains lashing the catchment areas of the river on Thursday.

``We are apprehending it to be the worst flood since Independence,'' the State Revenue Minister, Mr. Biswabhushan Harichandan, said. ``The situation will remain critical for the next 36 hours.''

Mr. Harichandan told presspersons that 14 lakh cusecs was discharged from the Naraj gauge station near Cuttack in the afternoon; the figure was likely to touch the 16 lakh mark tonight. This will worsen the situation in the coastal districts of Cuttack, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Jajpur.

Over 50 lakh people have been affected, and more than five lakh have moved to safer places in the flood-hit regions. More people were being evacuated from low-lying areas; the total number would increase to 10 lakhs late tonight, according to the State Special Relief Commissioner, Mr. Hrushikesh Panda. The toll has gone up to 38.

A visit to the flood-hit areas in Kendrapara, Jajpur and Jagatsinghpur showed that thousands of people had taken shelter on National Highways, State Highways and river embankments. No relief had reached a majority of these people since they left their homes three days ago.

9,000 villages marooned

About 9,000 villages have become inaccessible, and most have received no relief. Food packets have not been airdropped in many areas as only three helicopters are in use. Sufficient number of boats are also not available.

Meanwhile, the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr. Nitish Kumar, the three Union Ministers from the State, Mr. Joel Oram, Mr. Arjun Sethi and Dr. Debendra Pradhan, and several top officials, including the Cabinet Secretary, Mr. T.S.R. Prasad, visited the State.

Mr. Nitish Kumar, who undertook an aerial survey of the five districts, termed the situation as ``grim''. He expressed satisfaction over the relief operations carried out by the State Government. He also reviewed the situation at a high- level meeting attended by the Chief Minister, Mr. Naveen Patnaik, Mr. Harichandan, and top Central and State officials.

Assuring all help from the Centre, Mr. Nitish Kumar said the State Government had submitted an interim memorandum, giving details of the damage caused and also the relief needed. An inter-Ministerial official team from the Centre would visit the State after a final memorandum was submitted within a week.

Mr. Patnaik, who thanked the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, for sanctioning Rs. 100 crores as ad hoc assistance for relief and rescue work, also expressed satisfaction over the Centre agreeing to clear an overdraft of Rs. 220 crores. ``Now we will have no problems in launching relief and rehabilitation work.''

More than 400 Army personnel have reached the State for relief and rescue. Personnel of the Navy are also at work in several areas.

No danger to Hirakud

The Hirakud dam was out of danger after the water level in the reservoir came down to 627 feet, against the storage capacity of 630. The inflow of water was 4.56 lakh cusecs, while the outflow was in the order of 5 lakh.

The situation is unlikely to improve in the coming days with the weather office in Bhubaneswar predicting heavy rain over the next 24 hours. The problem in the coastal districts will be acute with Friday being no-moon day; there will be high tides in the Bay of Bengal and flood waters will not easily get discharged into the sea.

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