A waterlogged street in Balasore . Telegraph pictures

Balasore, Oct. 2: One woman was killed when her house at Basta caved in due to the impact of heavy rain that has triggered flood in major rivers and waterlogging in the district headquarters town.

The 26-year-old woman, identified as Sumati Patra of Sahada village, died last evening, while her eight-year-old son is being treated at district headquarters hospital. However, Sumati’s husband Choudhary Patra escaped unhurt.

Road communication between Basta and Baliapal was cut off as floodwater of the Jalka river, which had been in spate, was flowing about 3ft above the danger level near Pejagola. The river was flowing over the danger level of 5.5 metres near Mathani.

Though other two major rivers — Subarnarekha and Budhabalanga — have been flowing below the danger level, they are on the rise.

The district administration is keeping a close watch on the situation. District emergency officer Padmanabh Dora said: “The district has been experiencing incessant rain for the past couple of days. The quantum of loss and damage will be known after the concerned tehsildars submit the respective reports.”

Not only the rural parts, but also the district headquarters town experienced massive waterlogging due to the rain. Life came to a grinding halt as most of the town areas remained deluged with knee-deep rainwater till today morning.

Besides, poor sewer system and plugged drains have compounded the residents’ woes. The central patches of the town, too, faced the problem of waterlogging.

Drain water gushed into houses and several business establishments at Motiganj, Vivekananda Marg, Fandi Square, Station Square, Barabati, Sunhat, Artakabiraj, Fakir Mohan College, Gadagadia and Mathasahi.

“The condition is awful in the town. The condition forced us to remain indoors,” said town resident Ajay Bhuyan.

“Renovating the sewer system is need of the hour. The State Sewerage Board has been allotted Rs 10crore. Besides, the state government has plan to revamp the sewer mechanism under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan,” said executive officer of the Balasore Municipality Purna Chandra Mishra.