Over 14 lakh affected, 17 killed in Odisha floods

Bhubaneswar, Aug 30 (IANS) As many as 17 people have died while over 14 lakh people in 20 districts were affected due to floods in Odisha, the state government said here on Sunday.A total of 112 blocks, 896 gram panchayats, 3,256 villages, 21 urban local bodies and 75 wards have been hit by the flood situation, said the office of Special Relief Commissioner (SRC).The 20 districts affected due to floods are Angul, Balasore, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Boudh, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Khordha, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Puri, Sambalpur, Sonepur and Sundergarh.While 340 villages were marooned, and as many as 10,382 houses were damaged while 1,68,904 hectares of crop were affected due to flood-related incidents in the state.At least 45 medical and 42 veterinary, 14 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 17 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), 22 Fire Services teams and 254 boats have been deployed in the affected areas, said the SRC office.It added that in 11 districts, 107 roads were cut off by the swirling water and 32 breaches on river embankments were detected in five districts.
--IANS cd/sdr/