BHUBANESWAR: Four people have died in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district as floods triggered by incessant rain affected more than two lakh people across six districts, officials said on Tuesday.According to a government status report, flooding has affected 44 blocks, 233 gram panchayats and 748 villages in Balasore, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj and Sambalpur districts. The state government has not disclosed the circumstances leading to the four deaths.A total of 2,03,208 people have been affected, while 27,967 have been evacuated to safer places. As many as 226 villages remain marooned.The government has set up 212 relief camps, sheltering 27,712 people. Teams from the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Fire Services are continuing rescue and relief operations in the affected areas.Special relief commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said water levels in the Baitarani and Budhabalang rivers are receding, though evacuations are continuing as a precaution in vulnerable areas.He added that the discharge of floodwaters into the sea has slowed due to the full moon effect but is expected to pick up from Thursday.Health and family welfare minister Mukesh Mahaling said the health department has activated emergency response measures to prevent disease outbreaks and tackle health emergencies in flood-hit areas.
