A villager carries his bicycle as he wades through a flooded area near Delanga village in Puri. (AFP)

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 13: As many as 1,123 villages remained waterlogged even as the state government today claimed that the flood situation was under control.

As per latest reports available with the state government, over 20.71 lakh people living in 3,973 villages in 94 blocks of 19 districts have been affected by the flood.

With Kendrapara and Jajpur districts reporting six casualties each, the flood’s death toll has gone up to 20. Two bodies were retrieved from Gangua nullah near Palasuni on the city outskirts today.

Forty-eight breaches have so far occurred on the river embankments, with 35 of them occurring on the Mahanadi.

Kendrapara district was worst hit by the flood with over 4.45 lakh people in 415 villages affected by the deluge.

Disaster management minister Surya Narayan Patra said that IAS officer and former Kendrapara collector Hemanta Sharma had been deputed to the district to oversee the relief operation.

“There has been substantial improvement in the state’s flood situation. The inflow into the Hirakud reservoir has been negligible (1.33 lakh cusecs), while 1.08 lakh cusecs water was discharged from there,” said the minister.

Four helicopters of navy and air force were pressed into service for airdropping food packets in the inaccessible pockets of Kendrapara, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Boudh and Nayagarh districts, said the minister.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who reviewed the flood situation this afternoon, directed the district collectors to provide polythene sheets to the families rendered homeless and taking shelter on river embankments by tomorrow. It was decided that airdropping of food packets would also continue tomorrow and repair of breaches would be taken up immediately to restore road communication. Steps would also be taken to restore power supply in the flood-hit areas.

On the other hand, Opposition parties have today criticised the state government for its failure to tackle the flood situation. Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik described the current flood as “man-made”. He blamed the state government’s mismanagement in water discharge from Hirakud reservoir for the flood situation.

Senior BJP leader and former irrigation minister Bijay Mohapatra also alleged that the state government had not followed the rule curve for water discharge from Hirakud reservoir. Quoting the rule curve, Mohapatra said by September 1, the water level in the reservoir should have been maintained at 619 ft. However, the water level at that time was kept at 624 ft, which created the flood situation in Mahanadi delta.

Patra, however, refuted the Opposition allegations. He asserted that the rule curve was meticulously followed and the water discharge was managed properly.

The minister also refuted the Opposition’s allegation about mismanagement in relief operation and partisan treatment to the flood-affected people. “We are ensuring that the relief materials reach the flood-hit people,” he said.