BHUBANESWAR: Mahanadi’s ferocity showed no signs of a let-up as reports of large-scale devastation kept pouring in from districts located in the deltaic region. Flood water receded, though slowly, but increased number of breaches were reported from the coastal districts and more people came under the grip of the flood which has hit 19 districts of the State.Fresh estimates revealed that another half a million people came under the scourge of the flood on Monday, putting the affected population at close to 2 million. The fresh inundation brought in reports of 11 persons drowning in five districts, whereas the official death toll rose to 17.While a whopping 1,109 villages continued to be cut off with the district administration struggling to reach out to the marooned, the Government shifted close to another 50,000 people to safer places. About 1.48 lakh people have been evacuated to temporary shelters.The Government continued to air-drop relief materials at some of the worst-affected pockets in Cuttack, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara districts for the second consecutive day. Four choppers made at least 10 sorties to distribute essential items. However, with roads cut off and swirling Mahanadi waters preventing access, people were left to fend for themselves.Although the flood water discharge dropped from 12.09 lakh cusec (at 3 pm) to 11.85 lakh cusec three hours later, there were slim chances of any further drop in view of tidal waves caused by full moon day. This damaged the embankments and 300 more villages were marooned. So far, 3,505 villages in 93 blocks have been declared flood-affected. On a single day, the Government estimate said over 12,000 houses were found to have been damaged by flood water while over 1,48,000 hectare crop fields were overrun. At Puri, the embankment of Bhargavi breached near Balanga while Haata Delanga-Kanas Road was snapped by the flooding Luna river fed by Daya. The district administration was keeping a close watch on surge of the flood water towards National Highway 203, which connects Pipili to Puri and happens to be the main link to the Pilgrim town.The situation in Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and Jajpur was precarious with reports of inadequate relief pouring in and more areas getting inundated. Cuttack continued to be battered by the flood. The number of affected people increased by 1.6 lakh today while over 26,000 had to be evacuated.Two elephants were caught in flood water in Athagarh sub-division of Cuttack. The two jumbos were found in a distressed condition at the river bank.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik went for another round of aerial survey at Sambalpur, Sonepur and Boudh.
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