122 villages still remain marooned in Odisha : Officials

Bhubaneswar, Aug 14 :

As many as 122 villages are still marooned in Odisha even as the flood situation improved significantly with no river flowing above the danger mark, an official said Thursday.

Most of these villages are located in the coastal district of Puri, a senior official of the state revenue and disaster management department told IANS.

There has been almost no rain for the past few days. However, 133,052 people in 122 villages are still surrounded by flood water, he said.

People continued to take shelter on embankments, cyclone shelters, schools and other high-rise structures in Puri district, the official said.

The situation is likely to normalise in a day or two as water is receding fast and there is no threat of heavy rain in the next two-three days, he added.

The number of relief camps which was 100 earlier this week, has come down to 28 as many people have returned home.

The floods triggered by continuous rain have so far affected over 3.5 million people and more than a million livestock in 23 of the state’s 30 districts.

The toll due to rain and floods since July remains at 46, the official said.

Floods have also killed 149 livestock, damaged over 43,507 houses and destroyed crops over 351,068 hectares, he added.

(IANS)