Damaged paddy crops in Balasore’s Baliapal block. Telegraph picture

Balasore, Oct. 18: North Balasore, known as the rice bowl of Odisha, is bearing the brunt of floods as about 80 per cent of paddy crops have suffered damage due to waterlogging.

Baliapal villager Shyamsundar Nayak said: “This year, we expected a bumper crop. Even farmers who didn’t use fertiliser, too, expected a good harvest. But nature dealt us a severe blow. Everything perished in this calamity.”

“It is very difficult to sustain and recoup under this condition,” he said.

Local resident Ramakanta Panda said: “This region is rich due to cultivation of paddy, betel leaf and pisciculture. Paddy has suffered due to submergence and fish escaped due to overflowing of ponds. Besides, betel vine roots suffered loss due to accumulation of excess water.”

“Local people suffered in a big way as both the Subarnarekha and the Jalka wreaked havoc,” he said.

According to an official estimate, paddy crops in around 70,000 hectares have been damaged because of the floods.

Paddy culture expert Ashok Panigrahi said: “The critical time for paddy culture is emergence of panicle (thodo) and flowering. If a plant comes in contact with water during this period, the paddy shoots would turn infertile. The paddy crop loss in the district could be more than 80 per cent,” said Panigrahi.

Even after five days, north Balasore is still reeling from the miseries caused by the recent floods.

While the Subarnarekha spelt disaster for Bhograi and Jaleswar blocks, both the Subarnarekha and the Jalka delivered severe blows to Basta and Baliapal.

However, water has receded considerably in Basta, Baliapal, Bhograi and Jaleswar.

The full moon has further compounded the misery as the sea, which is experiencing a high tide, has hardly received floodwater from the plains today, leaving many patches of these blocks inundated and disrupting vehicular movement.

Water is flowing over roads near Batagram between Jaleswar and Bhograi and Kahlamuhani connecting Basta and Baliapal.

The low water level is insufficient for the boats to move. Ajay Sahu, a resident of Bishnupur at Baliapal block, said: “There has been no respite till date even after five days. The road communication is still cut off.”

“The low water level in certain patches created a peculiar situation. Neither any kind of boat can move in knee-deep water nor can pedestrians commute,” he said.

Five houses and a school building made of mud and asbestos roof at Rasalpur village on the bank of Subarnarekha at Baliapal collapsed yesterday.

Scouring of river embankment coupled with waterlogging for days together have caused the cave in of the houses.