3.60 lakh people of 532 villages still marooned, death toll 37 in Odisha flood

Bhubaneswar: Though the flood situation in Odisha has
improved slightly with major rivers showing receding trends since Friday,
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra on Saturday said that
around 3.60 lakh people of 532 villages are still marooned in different parts
of the State while 1.35 lakh people have taken shelter on various river
embankments.

Mohapatra informed that as many as 209 free kitchens are
opened to provide cooked foods to the people taking shelters at the river
bunds.

Meanwhile, with two more breaches detected at Kolero and
Banesara on Friday night in Paika river embankments in Jagatsinghpur district
on Saturday as a result about 20,000 people in these panchayats have been
affected the total number of breaches stood at 38 while the death toll due to
flood rose to 37.

The situation in districts like Kendrapara, Jajpur, Bhadrak
and Puri is still remained grim amid submergence of several areas.

Meanwhile, the Hirakud dam authorities on Saturday morning
closed three more gates following inflow of less floodwater from upper
catchments. At present, floodwater is being released through 24 sluice gates of
the reservoir.