Fresh floods hit at least six districts of northern Orissa on Monday affecting over 13 lakh people as major rivers in the region were rising alarmingly following heavy rains caused by depression.
Around three lakh people in six blocks of Balasore district were affected by the floods, which disrupted road communication and damaged crops in vast areas, official sources said.
Over nine lakh people were hit by floods in Kendrapara district and nearby areas as swollen Brahmani and Baitarani rivers ravaged around 6,000 hectares of agriculture land and damaged hundreds of houses, the sources said.
Ali, Rajnagar and Pattamundai areas of the district were the worst hit.
Though intensity of rains had weakened considerably, many areas were waterlogged and road links remained snapped disrupting vehicular movement.
While the swollen Budhabalanga river was flowing above the danger mark at Govindpur in Balasore district, water level of Suvarnarekha was likely to cross the danger level very soon, the sources said.
Jalaka was also flowing above the danger mark, they said.
Many houses were damaged due to incessant rains and flood waters at Satabhaya area of Kendrapara while some incidents of wall collapse were also reported, the sources said.
No casualty was reported from any place.
Normal life was affected in six blocks of Mayurbhanj district where flood fury in Budhabalanga river inundated several areas snapping road communication and submerging farmland, the sources said.
Train services and road traffic were disrupted in several areas as tracks and highways got submerged with flood waters and landslides blocking roads in many places, official sources said.
A landslide at Laxmidungri hills near Sambalpur blocked the national highway, leaving a large number of vehicles, including passenger buses and trucks stranded on both sides.
A massive operation was launched to clear the highway to ensure early resumption of traffic.
Several trains including Rajdhani Express and Puri-New Delhi Superfast Express were delayed, leaving a large number of passengers stranded at railway stations.
Dhauli Express between Bhubaneswar and Kolkata was cancelled due to the floods, the sources said.
The district authorities were asked to remain alert in order to meet any eventuality, they said.
Arrangements were made to carry out evacuation of people in several areas, the sources said.
