City Pulse

  Thirty-five people have died and 18 lakh affected by floods triggered by heavy rains in Odisha over the past week, a state revenue and disaster management official said on Thursday. 

Bhadrak and Jajpur are the districts worst-hit by the floods, which also affected around half a million livestock and have destroyed over 15,000 houses. Crops over 2 lakh hectares have been damaged while over 70,000 people have been evacuated from various districts. 

On Thursday, with several more districts facing the threat of floods, the Centre assured all help to the state to tackle the situation. 

Home minister Rajnath Singh said he had called up CM Naveen Patnaik and assured him all possible help. He told the Lok Sabha that National Disaster Response Force teams had already reached the state and that the government was ready to help the state beyond its contribution of 75% in the State Disaster Response Fund.