(Image source from: Rajya Sabha TV)

The Odisha government on Friday deployed NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) and ODRAF (Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force) personnel to accelerate rescue and relief operation chiefly in three districts where over 60 lakh people were affected by flood due to heavy rainfall triggered by Cyclone Titli.

The flood situation in three south Odisha districts - Gajapati, Ganjam, and Rayagada is stern as the water levels in major rivers like Rushikulya and Bansadhara have crossed their danger marks, official sources said.

The districts received excessive rainfall for three days under the impact of Cyclone Titli that made landfall on Thursday morning at Palasa near Gopalpur in Ganjam.

Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi said that the people in Balasore district were also affected by the flood.

The move to deploy NDRF and ODRAF as part of stepping up relief and rescue operation was taken at a meeting where Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took stock of the condition in the wake of the very severe cyclonic storm that battered the state.

In a video conference with the district collectors of Gajapati, Ganjam, and Rayagada, Patnaik gave instructions for escalating relief and rescue operation on a war footing as the distress of the people got combined due to the twin disasters of cyclone and floods.

Patnaik stressed on speedy repair of breaches in several river embankments and asked the district collectors to supply cooked food to the people who were shifted to relief camps, the official said.

Patnaik also constituted a three-member ministerial committee to visit the three worst-affected districts to monitor rescue and relief operation.

Two helicopters were demanded from the Indian Navy mainly for rescue and air dropping of relief materials in villages located that are cut off from rest of the state due to the submergence of roads with rain and flood water, Chief Secretary A.P. Padhi said.

Of the 22 blocks in Ganjam district, 13 were badly hit due to cyclone and floods. Blocks like Aska, Purusottampur, and Sanakhemundi were inundated by rainwater as well as water from Rusikulya river gushed into the villages, a senior official said.

The low-lying areas in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and the pilgrim town of Puri also remained waterlogged due to rain.

"A large number of pumps have been pressed into service by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) to clear water," a civic body official said.

Train services likewise were affected and at least 16 trains were canceled and several others rescheduled by East Coast Railway (ECoR) on Friday due to flooding of railway tracks.

Director of the metereological center at Bhubaneswar, H R Biswas said heavy to very heavy rainfall will continue to pound parts of the state, including Balasore, Bhadrak and Dhenkanal districts, till Saturday.

About three lakh people were evacuated from the endangered regions of five coastal districts of the state on Wednesday, a day earlier the cyclone made landfall.

-Sowmya Sangam