Many buildings on one side of Jatni-Sunderpada Road on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar appeared to be on an island as one drove along it. A closer look revealed that scores of residential apartments were marooned amid inundated fields as the Daya river, a branch of the Kuakhai distributary of the Mahanadi, was in spate following heavy rain due to low pressure and subsequent depression.
Many areas of Sundarpada were flooded since Wednesday and people have been without electricity since then after the power supply was cut off due to the risks of short circuits. “People are staying on the top floors, while others have left for safer places,” Jyotiranjan, who lives near the Hi Tech Plaza, told PTI as he waded along a flooded road with a stick in hand to check any potential pits.
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He said the water has receded a bit, but danger lies due to the possibility of heavy rain after the formation of a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal. Over the past two days, personnel of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force rescued those who were in danger as they were living on the ground floor.
Pravesh Agarwal, a resident of Kalyani Plaza area, said his family shifted to the second floor of their double-storey building after flood water gushed into the garage. Agarwal, a father of two children, pointed out that some parts of the road were inundated in chest-deep water, and running into snakes was an acute risk.
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The family did not get any relief material from the administration even as he dialled some helpline numbers, he said. The 42-year-old’s brother, Vikas , added that it would have been better if the administration had provided them with a raft to navigate and buy essentials. A worker of the TP Central Odisha Distribution Ltd (TPCODL) said the situation was very bad as a vast area of Sundarpada was flooded.
Power was being restored where the water had receded, the TPCODL worker said. They have been working for around 12 hours every day and doing patrolling also, the TPCODL worker said, adding that it was tough to give a timeline of when power in the area could be fully restored as there was a warning of more torrential rain.
The flood has affected over 5 lakh people in 13 districts. As many as 90,000 people were moved till Thursday to 190 relief camps. The Odisha government has put the coastal districts on high alert as the low-pressure area intensified into a depression and then a deep depression.
(With PTI inputs)
