Odisha rain caused widespread waterlogging in low-lying areas of Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur districts on Wednesday, affecting parts of towns and villages, while tidal waves damaged agricultural land and breached saline embankments in coastal Kendrapada. A separate 150-ft section of the Baitarani river embankment also collapsed in Jajpur district. No injuries or fatalities were reported.
Waterlogging was reported in Kendrapara town, Pattamundai, Rajnagar, Mahakalapada and Marsaghai in Kendrapada district, as well as Kujang, Paradip, Ersama and Tirtol in Jagatsinghpur. The rehabilitation colony at Bagapatia was among the affected locations, with at least 4,000 people impacted, according to the report by Times of India – Bhubaneswar.
Residents said the colony remains vulnerable because promised road improvements have not been completed. “Eight years back, the district administration promised to build concrete roads in the rehabilitation colony to prevent waterlogging but it is yet to be done,” Sudrashan Rout of Bagapatia in Rajnagar block was quoted as saying.
The rain and tidal activity also damaged farmland in seaside villages in the Mahakalapada and Rajnagar blocks of Kendrapada after a breach in a saline embankment. A section of the geo-synthetic tubewall at Pentha caved in as waves battered the structure. Rakesh Mallick, executive engineer of the irrigation department’s Kendrapada division, said portions of the geo-synthetic tubes had been taken away by the waves and that the department would repair the wall.
The incidents highlight the range of infrastructure exposed during severe weather in coastal Odisha, from unfinished roads in a rehabilitation colony to embankments intended to protect farmland and settlements from river and tidal water. The reported damage occurred across locations administered by different district and irrigation authorities.
In Jajpur district, a 150-ft-long section of the Baitarani river embankment at Naranapur village under Duttapur gram panchayat in Dasarathpur block collapsed on Wednesday morning. Local residents alleged that the structure gave way because of sub-standard work by the irrigation department. Prabhupada Jena of Naranapur said the Baitarani had breached the embankment in July and that repairs carried out afterward had not adequately restored it.
The allegation was not independently established in the report. Jajpur collector Ambar Kumar Kar said senior irrigation department officials had been directed to reach the site and repair the damaged embankment. The administration’s response places immediate restoration with the irrigation department, while the extent of damage to farmland, roads and public infrastructure remains to be assessed.
