Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday visited the inundated villages in Jajpur district by boat as severe flooding impacted more than 7.85 lakh people across the state, officials reported.
The CM was accompanies by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, Sports Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, and state BJP president Manmohan Samal. Majhi visited the severely affected Kasapa and Tarapada gram panchayats in Dasarathpur block, while the IMD warned of continuing rainfall the low-pressure system formed in the Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression.
Equipped with a life jacket, the chief minister rode a motorized boat to connect directly with affected villagers in Ramchandrapur, Balda, and Dhobabil.
Wading through knee-deep waters, the chief minister listened to the grievances of the people and guaranteed swift relief alongside comprehensive rehabilitation efforts.
Majhi emphasized that ensuring the safety and basic needs of flood-stricken families remains his government’s topmost concern.
He also inspected the quality of cooked meals distributed at relief shelters and pledged permanent flood-control measures would be taken to prevent recurring floods in northern Odisha.
The CM later extended his inspection tour to several inundated villages in neighboring Bhadrak district.
However, the survey ignited political row after BJD MLAs, led by Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik, and staged a sit-in on the road protest, claiming they were barred from joining the chief minister’s boat inspection.
“While BJP MPs, MLAs and ministers accompanied the CM, they deliberately denied entry to local BJD MLAs,” Mallik alleged.
Meanwhile, Water Resources Department engineer-in-chief Dilip Kumar Rout said that high water levels along the Brahmani and Baitarani river basins, triggered by heavy depression-led rainfall, could prolong the flood emergency for another four to five days.
“It may take four days for floodwater in the Baitarani and Brahmani to recede after they caused high floods in Jajpur and Bhadrak districts,” out stated, noting that teams are currently repairing two embankment breaches in Jajpur district.
State officials said that over 2.77 lakh people have been relocated to nearly 531 emergency relief camps set up in schools and along elevated embankments.
At least 126 villages across Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, and Kendrapara districts remain entirely cut off by floodwaters.
In response to the deteriorating weather conditions, the state government cancelled leave for employees and ordered all schools and educational institutions to remain closed on Monday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), in its latest bulletin, said a well-marked low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining West Bengal-north Odisha coasts had intensified into a depression.
The system moved slowly north-northwestwards at a speed of 6 kmph during the previous six hours and lay centred about 30 km west-northwest of Kolkata, 70 km south-southeast of Burdwan, 90 km west of Satkhira in Bangladesh, 140 km east-southeast of Bankura and 190 km northeast of Balasore at 11.30 am, the IMD said.
The system is very likely to move northwestwards towards Jharkhand across Gangetic West Bengal during the next 24 hours, it said.
The IMD, meanwhile, has also issued red warnig (take action) for very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in Balasore, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts and an orange alert (be prepared to take action) for Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Sundergarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul and Dhenkanal.
Warning of rough coastal seas caused by the depression, the IMD cautioned fishermen against venturing into the North Bay of Bengal or along West Bengal, Bangladesh, Odisha, and north Andhra Pradesh coastlines till August 18. The sea condition is very likely to be rough due to the impact of the depression, it said.
The IMD also issued a ‘yellow warning’ (be aware) of heavy rains for the districts of Bargarh, Subarnapur, Boudh, Puri, Khordha and Nayagarh.
Chief Secretary Anu Garg stated that approximately 100 specialized rescue squads have been stationed across high-vulnerability pockets in northern Odisha, while senior Water Resources Department engineers have been dispatched to reinforce riverbanks and limit potential damage.
Three senior officers were also rushed to Bhadrak, Jajpur and Balasore districts to monitor relief and rescue operations in the affected areas.
Meanwhile, many parts of the state have received heavy to very heavy rainfall during the last 24 hours under the influence of the low-pressure. Balasore town received 93.1 mm of rainfall till 5.30 am on Monday, an official said.
