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Diarrhoea has already claimed four lives in the worst-affected Kendrapara district and affected over 600 people, official reports received in Bhubaneswar said on Sunday.
The reports said 438 of the affected people were from the Patkura block of the district, which had virtually remained cut-off due to flood.
Kendrapara District Collector Krushna Chandra Mohanty said he had sent an SOS to the state government requesting that additional doctors and paramedical staff be deputed to the district to combat the situation.
Describing the situation as grim, the Collector admitted that large number of marooned people in Patkura block were yet to get medical assistance.
Unless the government despatched additional medical units the possibility of outbreak of an epidemic could not be ruled out, he said.
The government said all efforts were being made to ensure that diarrhoea and gastro-enteritis did not assume epidemic proportions.
The death toll in the floods and heavy rains rose to 59 on Sunday with the drowning of a relief worker when a motor boat capsized in the flooded Delang area of Puri district.
Another person was missing while ten others in the boat were rescued.
The situation in the deltaic area, however, improved with the water levels in all rivers in the Mahanadi system receding but the Baitarani and Brahmani rivers threatened to inundate fresh areas as they were rapidly rising, the reports said.
The District Collector had requested for forty more boats though 18 power boats, 134 country boats and nine naval and army boats were presently in operation in Kendrapara.
With the receding of flood waters, the focus had shifted to relief and rehabilitation even as the administration faced shortage of food materials.
Stocks of chuda (flattened rice) was being transported from neighbouring states, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the IAF helicopters continued the air-dropping operations in different affected districts and eight columns of army were operating in the worst affected areas.
About 300,000 flood victims were being provided cooked food at 277 free kitchens, the sources said.
EARLIER REPORT Coastal Orissa fears more devastation
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