After Cyclone Phailin, Odisha fights floods in five districts

CHATRAPUR (GANJAM): After Cyclone Phailin, Odisha on Monday grappled with flash floods that claimed at least three lives and marooned over two lakh people across five districts. Rising waters of major rivers – Subarnarekha, Budhabalanga, Baitarani and Jalaka – affected an estimated 20 lakh people.
Heavy rains during Saturday night’s cyclone and its aftermath caused massive inundation in large swathes of Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Keonjhar districts.Balasore and Baripada towns were also badly affected. The state government dispatched rescue parties to shift marooned people to safety and also air-dropped food and other essential stuff to the flood affected. Thousands of people moved to higher places for safety. Flood waters flowed over national highway 60. Road and rail communication between Odisha and West Bengal were hit, leading to cancellation of several trains on the route.
Special relief commissioner Pradipta Mohapatra said the flood situation might improve as rivers Budhabalanga and Baitarani were receding. “We would start moving food and other materials on road and boats from Tuesday to reach out to maximum people,” he said.
Though the cyclone hit Ganjam on Saturday night, it was saved from major flash floods as the water was controlled and gradually let into river Rushikulya, said water resources secretary Suresh Mohapatra. “The water could be dammed on Mahanadi and Rengali river systems but not on Budhabalanga, Baitarani and Subarnarekha,” he said.
Official sources said northern parts of Odisha received between 250mm and 300mm of rainfall during the past two days, leading to flash floods. The high tide due to the cyclone also didn’t allow the water to go into the sea. By Monday evening, Budhabalanga and Baitarani had showed receding trend, while the water level in Subarnarekha was expected to gradually fall.
The twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack limped back to normalcy on Monday with power and water supply almost restored. An East Coast Railway spokesperson said most of the trains resumed on normal route in scheduled timings while some trains were rescheduled and a very few cancelled on Monday.
Hundreds of people thronged the Durga puja pandals to pay their obeisance to the goddess as the twin cities had a relatively clear sky. Business and commercial establishments also reopened.
In Puri, contrary to expectations, the tourism industry sprang back to life on Monday, two days after cyclone Phailin swept through the beach town. Industry sources said the occupancy status in hotels spiralled to an unexpected 80% from just 5% on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“We have started receiving inquiries from tourists, who are eager to visit Puri. Bookings are being made in full swing,” said Yugabrat Kar, secretary of Odisha tour operators’ association.
Many tourists, who were evacuated from Puri to nearby hotels in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and other non-coastal districts, are back. Though power supply wasn’t restored till Monday afternoon, the hotels are using generators to generate backup power sources. The beach was abuzz with activity as tourists in large numbers thronged the shore on Monday after the turbulent sea turned tranquil.
(With inputs from Ashok Pradhan in Bhubaneswar and Debabrata Mohapatra in Puri)