Now Reading: Odisha floods hit 26 districts, 131 schools closed in Bhadrak
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Odisha floods hit 26 districts, 131 schools closed in Bhadrak
The Story in Brief
Floods have affected at least 26 districts of Odisha, with 7,834 villages across 1,360 gram panchayats in 205 blocks and 219 wards under 38 urban local bodies hit, Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari said on Monday (28 September). He said the situation should improve within 24 hours, with the Mahanadi not posing immediate danger. Around 6.40 lakh cusecs is flowing from Chhattisgarh and 4.94 lakh cusecs is being discharged, with the water level at 629.31 feet and rising. At Mundali, inflow was 7.60 lakh cusecs at 9 am, and officials aim to keep it under 10 lakh cusecs.
Water Resources Department Engineer-in-Chief Dillip Kumar Rout said around 7.83 lakh cusecs was flowing at Mundali at noon (28 September) and expected it to peak near 8 lakh cusecs before declining after the evening. Thirty gates of the Hirakud Dam are releasing floodwater, with the reservoir inflow at 6.30 lakh cusecs and water level at 629.52 feet. Low-lying areas in Cuttack, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur may be inundated. Water levels in the Subarnarekha, Baitarani, Salandi, Budhabalanga and other rivers have receded, and the Brahmani is not facing a flood situation.
On 1 October, authorities in Bhadrak ordered the closure of 131 schools in Dhamnagar, Chandbali, Bhadrak and Tihidi blocks due to waterlogging and restoration work, Odisha Bytes reports. Over 30 villages under 10 gram panchayats in Bhograi, Balasore remain waterlogged, with roads submerged under about three feet of water. Fire services rescued 34 people from Makarapada who were marooned for nearly four days and shifted them to a cyclone shelter. The Hindu reported Odisha recorded 1,453 mm of rainfall between June and 25 September, a 29% excess, and warned of repeated intense downpours.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The sources divide into official situation reports and a longer analytical piece. Odisha TV and Odisha Bytes lead with minister and engineer briefings, emphasising that the Mahanadi is not dangerous, that water levels are receding in most rivers, and that authorities are responding. The Hindu, writing two days later, frames the same events as evidence of systemic vulnerability: it foregrounds the 29% rainfall excess, 60 locations with over 100 mm in 24 hours, and questions whether the state's zero-casualty policy can hold given CAG-flagged drain deficiencies. Where Odisha TV reports 30 gates open and a peak of 8 lakh cusecs as controlled, The Hindu reads the runoff as threatening more floods downstream. The uniform core is the government's numbers and forecast, the divergence is in whether the story is about an improving situation or about infrastructure strain.
Coverage: 5 sources, 1 government-critical, 4 neutral
Sources (5): odishatv.in (neutral report), odishatv.in (2) (neutral report), thehindu.com (government critical), odishatv.in (3) (neutral report), odishabytes.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 5 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
Update, 1 October 2026: this story now draws on 5 sources.
