15 GPs cut off in Jajpur

JAJPUR: The flood situation continues to remain grim in Barachana block even as most rivers passing through the district have started receding.Flood in the Birupa and the Kelua rivers, tributaries of Mahanadi, inundated large areas of Barachana block leaving at least 60,000 people of 15 gram panchayats marooned.Alleging delay in the supply of relief materials, over 300 flood victims blocked Ratnagiri on NH 5 (A).The blockade was lifted after the block administration intervened assuring them immediate supply of relief.Farmers of Bari, Dasarathapur, Barachana, Korei, Jajpur, Binjharpur, Dharmasala and Rasulpur blocks have been hit due to the floods in the Brahmani, Baitarani, Kani, Kharasrota, Kelua, Budha, Birupa and Genguti rivers.The district has witnessed two floods this year and the farmers have suffered huge losses with standing crop over 20,000 hectares submerged in flood water.District Emergency sources said, about 2.50 lakh people of 280 villages under 91 gram panchayats of the district had been affected by the floods, which reportedly claimed four lives.