Jajpur,28/05: Flood has wrought havoc in Jajpur district due to cyclonic storm Yaas and triggered large scale devastation on Dasarathpur, Korei, Bari and Jajpur blocks Binjharpur blocks.Around 40,000 villagers of 39 Gram panchayats and 101 villages have been affected in the flood. We have been removing people to safe places as the water level in the rivers Baitarani, Kani and Kharosotra is increasing .Officials of the Water Resources Department have been asked to undertake round-the-clock patrolling of vulnerable pockets, and take steps for guarding and strengthening the weak embankment points , said Chakravarti Singh Rathore the collector of Jajpur. Hundreds of flood hit villagers have been affected by the flood while people in flood-affected blocks are living a life of misery. Though relief goods have reached them, the loss of property and damage to the agriculture fields has compounded their plight. The flood has brought to the fore the tales of social service by some persons who helped many flood- hit people. Many flood affected people are facing shortage of drinking water. Everything is critical.The children are starving.They are desperate. Dasarathpur faced the worst flood since 1955. Floods that have devastated Dasarathpur have washed away much of its food supply.The river Kani breached at Malikaswarpur under Dasarathpur block on Friday. Many flood hit people are still faced with the dilemma of drinking contaminated water, putting them at risk of diarrhoeal diseases. Lack of clean water leads to poor sanitation, and this is a major concern which leads to heightened risk of disease. Waste is building up” said Debendra Jena of Binjharapur. “We now need to walk more than a kilometre in order to fetch water. It takes time for me to collect enough water for my family. I have to hurdle the thorny trail every day to get water”, said Rani Jena (45) of Malikapur village. Adm Akshya kumar mallik,Public Works Department Superintendent Engineer Tara Prasad Mishra and Executive Engineer Arun Patnaik visiting various flood-hit areas in the district.
By A.K.Rout.