Bridge caves in, Jajpur cut off

BHUBANESWAR: After Baitarani, Subarnarekha threatened another spell of floods in the State. Even as the depression moved away to Jharkhand, heavy rains in the catchments of Subarnarekha led the river to swell on Friday. The Government resumed air-dropping of food packets and announced seven more days of relief. While the State Government was breathing easy that Baitarani will relent after rising menacingly on Thursday and flooding large parts of Jajpur and Bhadrak, Subarnarekha was causing fresh worry.Since the three dams at Chandil, Sunei and Kal do not have enough water holding capacity, the storm water is being released into the river. Subarnarekha was flowing at 50.28 metres, above the danger mark of 49.16 metres, at Jamsholaghat and still showing a rising trend. Similar was the trend at Rajghat where it was flowing close to the danger level.The Government admitted that it was a cause of concern. “The Secretary of Water Resources department has been asked to stay in contact with his counterpart of Jharkhand to monitor the flood-control situation,” Special Relief Commissioner Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra said.Baitarani too was causing havoc in Jajpur district. Jajpur town had been marooned after Rudhia bridge over Budha river caved in. The other connection to the town through Kuakhia was overflooded snapping all connectivity. Even the collectorate was facing inundation following the deluge. Several breaches in the embankments of Baitarani and Brahmani had badly affected Jajpur, where over 400 villages had been marooned by Friday evening. Over 3,500 people had been shifted to safety. The latest estimates said floods in Baitarani had affected close to a population of 3 lakh in four districts. Jajpur and Bhadrak were the worst hit. At least 829 villages had been affected in 25 blocks of six districts whereas 711 villages were cut off from the mainland. The districts had been asked to evacuate people from low-lying areas. In view of the emerging situation, the Government decided to start air-dropping of food packets in the marooned villages of Bhadrak, Jajpur and Kendrapara from Friday while emergency relief will be distributed for seven days. Three senior officers were sent to the districts to assist the collectors in relief and rescue operation.However, the Government hoped that the situation would ease since the Baitarani was showing a receding trend at Anandpur and Akhuapada where heavy rains had occurred on Thursday. Amidst the relentless floods, a sub-team of the inter-ministerial Central team will arrive in the State on Monday to assess damage. A four-member team will visit Sambalpur, Bargargh and Sonepur districts before the rest of the team arrives.