Mahanadi Floods Prompt Evacuation of Over 1.7 Million People in Odisha

Heavy monsoon rains have caused the Mahanadi River to surge, flooding the northern and western districts of Odisha, India. In the northern districts of Khordha, Puri, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur, as well as Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj, water levels rose sharply, prompting high‑alert advisories and the deployment of disaster response teams along river embankments.

State officials, including Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, have evacuated roughly 176,000 residents and opened 476 relief centres to provide food and shelter. About six hundred thousand people are reported as affected statewide. The discharge at the Mundali barrage is expected to reach nine lakh cusecs, the highest seasonal flow recorded this year.

In the western districts, notably Boudh and Kalahandi, rising waters have cut off roads, marooned villages such as Marada and Atalsara, and inundated paddy fields. Local administrators—collector Bibhuti Bhusan Nayak, SP Kuldeep Meena and others—have been monitoring the situation, shifting residents to flood shelters and maintaining round‑the‑clock duty for emergency teams.