The Odisha government on Wednesday (September 2, 2026) warned of another round of flooding in Balasore district as the Subarnarekha River, swollen by heavy rains in neighbouring Jharkhand, was in spate.

Due to heavy rain in Jharkhand, floodwater was entering the Subarnarekha River through 13 gates, which were opened at the Gauludih barrage. Against a danger level of 10.36 metres in Subarnarekha at Rajghat in Jaleswar, water was flowing above 11.63 metres. As per the Water Resource Department, the water level in Subarnarekha could rise above 11.80 metres by the night of Wednesday (September 2).

Flood water has already entered 65 villages in Bhogarai block of Balasore district, 60 of Baliapala and 12 villages of Jaleswar block.

“This is the third flood in Balasore.  We have asked field level officials and panchayati raj institution representatives to provide dry food,” said Suryawanshi Mayur Vikas, Balasore district collector.

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said 25 panchayats of Balasore district were badly affected and cooked food was being provided to people marooned by flood water. “We hope the situation would improve within day or two,” Mr. Pujari.

Meanwhile, hundreds of villages in Jajpur and Bhadrak district continued to struggle due to flood for over a month due to back-to-back flood in Baitarani River system.