Odisha Deputy Chief Minister Urges Accelerated Relief Efforts in Flood-Hit Bhadrak District

Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida on Wednesday pressed for an accelerated relief and rehabilitation effort in Odisha’s flood-hit Bhadrak district, asking officials to move beyond emergency response and focus on restoring normal life in the affected areas as quickly as possible. The directions came after Parida toured inundated villages, including Barsar and Gobindpur in Tihidi block, where she met affected residents, assessed the extent of damage and assured them that the state government would provide all necessary support during the recovery process. Later, at a review meeting held at the Bhadrak Collectorate, the Deputy Chief Minister examined the district’s flood response across multiple sectors instead of limiting the discussion to relief distribution. Officials briefed her on river conditions in the Baitarani, Salandi and Akhuapada systems, the status of marooned villages, breaches in embankments, damage to roads, bridges and culverts, restoration of electricity, crop losses and the progress of relief operations. Parida instructed the administration to restore disrupted road links on priority so that relief materials and essential services could reach cut-off areas without delay. She also directed officials to ensure uninterrupted supplies of dry food, safe drinking water and cattle feed while strengthening healthcare services to guard against water-borne diseases in flood-affected pockets. With concerns shifting towards public health after the floods, she asked ASHA and Anganwadi workers to step up awareness campaigns on hygiene and disease prevention. She also called for additional medical teams to be deployed wherever required to prevent any post-flood health crisis. The Deputy Chief Minister further asked the Water Resources and Rural Development departments to maintain continuous surveillance of vulnerable embankments and undertake immediate repairs at locations showing signs of weakness to minimise the risk of fresh breaches. Emphasising that flood management requires coordinated action, Parida urged government departments and public representatives to work in tandem so that relief, restoration and rehabilitation activities progress simultaneously rather than in isolation. The review meeting was attended by Bhadrak MLA and District Planning Board Chairman Sitanshu Sekhar Mohapatra, Collector Somesh Kumar Upadhyay, Additional District Magistrate Rabinarayan Sahu, Chief Development Officer-cum-Executive Officer of the Zilla Parishad Subhendra Samal, Superintendent of Police, Sub-Collector Saurabh Chakraborty and other senior district officials.