Kendrapada: Thousands of flood victims in Kendrapada and Jajpur districts continue to struggle as vast tracts of land remain submerged in riverside villages of Dasarathpur, Korei, Bari and Binjharpur blocks in Jajpur, and Aul, Rajkanika, Rajnagar and Pattamundai blocks in Kendrapada. “The roads around our home and the low-lying fields are under water. We are confined to our homes,” said Balabhadra Rout (56) of Tarapada village under Dasarathpur block.Floodwaters have stood at a high level for the past two weeks. Thousands of residents are forced to wade through contaminated water every day, risking encounters with crocodiles and snakes. With torrential rain continuing, residents fear that the situation may not improve for five more days.The floods have caused extensive damage to agriculture and fisheries in both districts. Residents in several affected areas said they have limited access to food, drinking water and cooking facilities. Biraja Nayak (58) of Malikapur village under Dasarathpur block said his family had been stranded on a river embankment for four days without relief. “We have no way to cook. We are surviving on whatever flattened rice, biscuits and dry food we can manage,” he said.Hundreds of houses have been damaged or washed away in the two districts, while thousands of people have been severely affected. Heavy rainfall has been forecast in both districts till Friday, raising concerns over further deterioration of the situation.A large number of people have been forced to leave their homes after gushing floodwaters inundated residential areas. Several roads have also been damaged, making access to affected villages difficult for emergency and relief teams.A three-room thatched house belonging to Manoj Rout (56) of Patana village under Tarapada gram panchayat in Dasarathpur block was washed away on Monday morning after the river breached its embankment at Patana. Manoj and his family managed to flee to higher ground. “If the flood had occurred at night, we might have been washed away. I have lost my home, crops and everything in this flood. No one has seen such rain and flooding in our lifetime,” he said.Manoj alleged that the authorities provided his family with only 1kg of flattened rice and a tent. “The government has left us all alone,” he said. “After a week, we consumed cooked food, rice and dalma as the officials came in a boat to our village to provide food to us on Tuesday,” said Soudamini Behera (70) of Jhalapada village.According to the Jajpur district administration, 3.98 lakh people in 345 villages under 117 gram panchayats have been affected by the floods. Around 1.14 lakh people have been evacuated, while 68 village roads have been damaged. “We are doing our best to provide extensive relief and rehabilitation to flood victims and are providing cooked food in many areas,” said collector (Jajpur) Ambar Kumar Kar.In Kendrapada, the situation is grim too. “The water was rising so fast on Monday that we couldn’t go back. Most of our belongings have been washed away,” said Lalatendu Mallick (62) of Singhgaon village under Pattamundai block. He and his son’s family are now taking shelter in a cyclone shelter in the village.
