Bhograi: As floodwater from the Subarnarekha river recedes, suffering of the flood-affected people under various blocks in Balasore district has worsened. Presently, the water level is 9.4 metre below the alert level at the Rajghat gauge station. After seven days of flooding, the marooned people are facing severe hardships in getting food and drinking water.
In northern blocks of Balasore such as Bhograi, Baliapal, Jaleswar, and Basta, more than a lakh people have been cut off from the outside world. Country boats and banana rafts have become their only means of transport to move from one village to another.
Owing to the floodwater, which has risen to a height of 2-10 feet in some houses, people have been deprived of cooked food for last seven days and forced to survive by eating flattened rice or puffed rice.
According to the Agriculture Department, 9,568 hectares of paddy fields in Bhograi block, along with 2,900 hectares in Baliapal block and 8,000 hectares in Jaleswar block, have been affected by the floods. Roads remain submerged under 4- 6 feet of water bringing daily life to a halt. All tube wells and the drinking water pipe laid by L&T have been submerged giving way to a severe drinking water crisis. Over a thousand people, including children, who left their flooded homes in fear, have taken shelter on the Bhograi-Bhua embankment enduring dire conditions.
Although the administration claims to be providing dry food like flattened rice, jaggery, biscuits, and cooked meals to the affected people, many in various panchayats have complained that this is not the reality. Many claimed that despite being rescued and taken to shelters, they are not receiving enough food.
There have also been reports of mismanagement in the distribution of relief materials in several panchayats. It has been alleged that panchayat leaders and officials are mismanaging the process in Bhograi. Some flood-affected individuals even surrounded Supply department workers and hurled verbal abuse at them due to the disorganised distribution.
During a press conference, local leaders such as Bhograi MLA Gautam Buddha Das, district BJD president and former minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, BJD district MP candidate Lekhashree Samantsinghar, block chairman Prabir Kumar Giri, former block chairman Ganapati Giri, and BJD president Ramakant Karan criticised the state government’s failure in managing the flood situation. They also demanded that the government provide seven days’ worth of relief materials to those affected by floods.
PNN