Flood situation eases in Bihar, UP; 700 evacuated in Orissa

Times of India, Aug 11, 2007

NEW DELHI: With rain-fed rivers receding and a merciless sun beating down, the flood fury in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh abated further even as 700 people were evacuated today from an Orissa town where Vansadhara river flowed close to the red mark.

Though the death toll from the deluge touched 178 in Uttar Pradesh, the situation in the eastern region, where over 2,300 villages were inundated, eased thanks to practically no rains in catchment areas.

The water level of major rivers, which rose menacingly affecting nearly five lakh hectares of land in 22 districts, also receded even as relief operations continued to provide succour to the marooned.

In Bihar, where up to 15 million people in 7,225 villages were hit by the nature's fury, the situation steadily improved with the sun shining brightly in the past few days.

IAF choppers and over 5000 boats were still engaged in relief and rescue operations in the state where the death count due to the flooding topped the 200 mark.

As many as 700 people were evacuated from Gudari town in Orissa's Rayagada district as Vansadhara river swelled.

It was flowing near the red mark and was constantly rising, officials said adding a bridge had been washed away by surging waters at Bijapur.

Gusty winds restricted Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's aerial survey of some flood-hit districts.

A report from Bhawanipatna said that heavy rains lashed Kalahandi district since Friday, paralysing normal life as rivers Tel, Hati and Udanti were in spate.

The flooded Hati once again disrupted road communication on NH 201 as the water, flowing above the river bridge near Junagarh town, was rising further, officials said.

The culvert over Pipalnala on the outskirt of Bhawanipatna town, which was repaired on Friday after being damaged in the flash floods on August five and six, had again suffer damage in the fresh deluge.

Entry and exit to the town from that route had been stopped as police guarded the damaged culvert.

The Tel had inundated vast cultivated areas in Amathola, Nandol, Kalam, Paria, Turchi, Cheliamal, Turkel, Kasurpada, Nunmath, Belkhandi, Rajapada and Digsara.

A 150-metre breach in the approach road to the Tel river bridge at Turkel on state highway number 16, linking Bhawanipatna with Raipur in Chhattisgarh, had disrupted the road traffic, the officials said.