River Baitarani breached at Dasarathapur in Jajpur on Tuesday. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, July 22: Vast areas of Jajpur and Bhadrak districts are reeling from flood due to two breaches on the Baitarani embankments while swollen rivers are receding in Kalahandi, Keonjhar and other districts following cessation of incessant rain.

“We have asked the concerned district collectors to evacuate vulnerable people to safer places, wherever necessary,” said state’s special relief commissioner P.K. Mohapatra.

“Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) have been pressed into service for rescue and relief operations,” he said.

A 40 metre-wide breach got developed at Patapur in Dasarathapur block of Jajpur district on the Baitarini river embankment. As many as 15,000 people of at least 11 villages in the Dasarathapur area were affected. Floodwaters submerged homes in the areas and inundated thousand hectares of crop fields located in the low-lying areas, official sources said.

“We have evacuated around 6,000 people and rehabilitated them in various shelters. Free kitchen services have been arranged for the rehabilitated flood victims,” said district collector Anil Kumar Samal.

However, a family having seven members at Patapur village could not be rescued, because the roof of the house upon which they had taken shelter was situated in front of the breach. “A chopper has been requisitioned for the rescue of the stranded people,” said Samal.

The district administration has also requisitioned more powerboats from other organisations.

“We have cancelled leave of the officials and asked all line officials not to leave their respective headquarters in view of the floods,” said the district collector.

Another breach was reported at Sathiebankuda in Sundarpur gram panchayat of Bhadrak district on the Baiatarini embankment.

“Marooned people have been evacuated and provided with free kitchen facilities,” said Bhadrak collector Lakshmi Narayan Mishra.

Bhadrak town’s low-lying areas were inundated due to overflowing of the Salandi river, while the Baitarni has posed danger for Dhamnagar and Bhandaripokhari blocks.

“All the senior officers, including the district collector, paid visit to the block today to take contingency measures,” said district emergency officer Rajkishor Patnaik.

In another development, the Hati river, which had wreaked havoc in vast areas of Kalahandi district, has started receding.

Director of the regional meteorology centre Sarat Chandra Sahu said: “Rain has stopped in Odisha. Though there is a likelihood of rain in many places across the state in next 48 hours, there is no immediate flood threat.”