Introduction:
Orissa is a land of rivers. The Mahanadi, the Kathjodi, the Brahmani, the Baitarani, the Subarnarekha, the Budhabalanga, the Rusikulay and the Mahendratenaya flow on the land of Orissa.
image source: data1.ibtimes.co.in/en/full/530862/odisha-flood.jpg
These rivers are fed by rain-water. So, during the rainy season, floods come in them. These rivers are in spate generally in the month of September.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Flood-devastation:
Floods in Orissa devastate a large number of villages. They rush over the embankments. They break through the embankments. They sweep away the standing crops. They sweep away the stock-piles of food grains. They sweep away the houses of people and their domestic animals. Floods sweep away a large number of people and kill them by drowning. Many people take shelter on the high spots of land. They are destitute of home and hearth. There is water all around. They cannot go anywhere. They suffer from want of food. They are oppressed by further fall of rain. Many children die of Typhoid and Pneumonia. Misfortune never comes alone. Floods are followed by cholera. Many people die of this epidemic.
Loss caused by floods:
Floods in Orissa cause a great loss to her people. Crops worth crores of rupees are destroyed by floods. Grains worth crores of rupees are destroyed. Floods carry sand to the corn fields and make them barren. House, household things, domestic animals worth crores of rupees are destroyed. The sufferings of people are beyond imagination and beyond description.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Conclusion:
Now, attempts are being made to control the floods in Orissa by constructing dams is the rivers. The Hirakud dam is one such dam. It controls the floods of the Mahanadi and the Kathjodi. It is hoped that dams will be constructed in all other rivers.