Bhubaneswar: More than half a million have been affected by the recent flood caused by the Baitarani river in Bhadrak, Kendrapara, and Jaipur districts of Odisha, officials said Sunday.

More than three lakh people were affected due to the flood situation till Saturday, according to the Special Relief Commissioner’s (SRC) office.

About 4.02 lakh people were reportedly hit in the district of Kendrapara alone, where a total of 31 villages still remained affected by the tragedy. The situation in the Jajpur district made the life of people full of misery with 1.71 lakh people affected by floodwaters. The total number of affected in Bhadrak remained at more than 83,000, they said.

And at Akhuapada in Bhadrak and Raghat in Anandpur of Keonjhar district, the Baitarani river was flowing below the danger level till 6 pm on Sunday.

As there was no fresh rainfall in the upper and lower catchments, Deputy Relief Commissioner Pravat Ranjan Mohapatra said that the floodwaters of the Baitarani had started receding on Sunday afternoon.

“In case of inundation of any area, the collectors have been asked to take immediate steps to evacuate the people and keep them at flood shelters. They will be provided food and all necessary assistance,” Mohapatra said, adding that more than 10,000 people living in low lying areas have already been evacuated during the last three days.

As of now, about 81 free kitchens were serving food in the three districts, with most of them being in Kendrapar, where 6,225 people have already been evacuated.

As per a report, about 89 villages in Jajpur district and two urban wards from Binjharpur, Dasrathpur and Korei blocks have been affected in the flood.

About 4,009 hectares of crop area was submerged and 55 houses partially damaged, according to the reports. More than 6,913 people were evacuated to 43 relief camps, the reports said.

At least one team belonging to the NDRF and the ODRAF have been deployed in Jajpur district.

The SRC office said that in the district of Bhadrak, 122 villages under four blocks of Tihidi, Chandbali, Bhadrak, and Dhamnagar were affected and 34,152 hectares of cropland submerged.

Officials said that in Kendrapara, about 720 villages under nine blocks of Kendrapada, Derabish, Marshghai, Mahakalpara, Pattamundai, Ali, Rajkanika, Garadur and Rajnagar were affected.

In the Keojhar district, the water level of the Baitarani river receded, officials said. Rescue and relief efforts are on by the authorities. Jajpur district

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