Several parts of Kandhamal and Kalahandi districts were also under water due to incessant rain
Malkangiri/M. Rampur: Life was thrown out of gear Friday with Malkangiri remaining cut-off from neighbouring districts following heavy rain.
Several parts of Kandhamal and Kalahandi were also under water due to incessant rain. The met department has recorded 531 mm of rain across Malkangiri district in last 24 hours
The link between Malkangiri, Balimela, Chitrakonda, Kalimela, Motu and Padia was completed disrupted with water flowing two feet above the ground level on several bridges at Korukonda and MV-37 areas. This has led to stranding of several vehicles on either sides of bridges and added to the misery of commuters.
Incessant rain in the district for the past few days has also left many rivers including Saptadhara, Sileru and Saberi in spate.
Three villages including Sugriguda and Pujariguda of Khairaput block were inundated triggering panic among the villagers.
This apart, a diversion road was washed away by the flood water near Govindpali snapping communication between Jeypore and Malkangiri.
“If the rain continues, the situation will worsen,” feared locals.
While the district administration is yet to reach out to those who are stranded, the prediction of the met department of heavy to very heavy rainfall has caused panic among people.
The villagers alleged that rainwater flowing over the bridges has become a common thing even after a little shower.
Meanwhile, the district administration has directed all the tehsildars and block development officers to keep a close watch on the flood situation and take precautionary measures.
On the other hand, people in Kandhamal also faced connectivity issues as a bridge in the Bastingia village has been inundated in rain water. At least five feet of water was flowing over the bridge, and as a result of that the only route between Chakapada and Tikabali blocks has become nonoperational. Road transport has come to a complete halt throwing normal life out of gear. The regional meteorological department has further predicted low pressure on the Bay of Bengal from July 21 onwards with ‘heavy to very heavy’ rainfall in coastal and interior parts of the state.
A makeshift bridge at Goudakela, about five km from M Rampur in Kalahandi district, on NH-59 that connects Gopalpur Port and Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur was washed away after heavy rain. The bridge, which was under-construction, was washed away after only two hours of rain, a report said. This has resulted in disruption of link between M Rampur and other parts of the state including Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Kandhamal, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Khurda and Puri.
PNN