Bhubaneswar: The flood situation remained grim in parts of north Odisha on Saturday as major rivers, including the Subarnarekha, Budhabalanga, Baitarani, Jalaka and Salandi, flowed above the danger mark after heavy rain over the past three to four days.Low-lying areas in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts were inundated, affecting more than one lakh people in 1,071 villages across 325 gram panchayats in 80 blocks of 10 districts. Besides, 49 wards in 10 urban local bodies were hit by rain and floodwater. As Saturday was a full moon day, the floodwaters from the rivers could not drain into the sea, creating more problems for the flood-hit people in northern Odisha districts.Revenue and disaster management minister Suresh Pujari, after reviewing the situation, said district administrations, in coordination with NDRF, ODRAF and fire service teams, were engaged in rescue and relief operations. More than 70,000 people have been shifted to safer places, and cooked food is being provided at 395 relief centres.Pujari said Subarnarekha is likely to reach its peak by Sunday afternoon, while Budhabalanga may start receding from Sunday morning. Subarnarekha was flowing around 0.14 metre above the danger level by midday Saturday and may rise further due to inflow from upstream, including water released from Galudih barrage in Jharkhand.Baitarani, flowing 1.15 metres above the danger mark at Akhuapada in Bhadrak district, flooded several areas in Bhadrak and Jajpur. Officials said this was the seventh flood spell in the river system this year. Budhabalanga at NH-5 Govindpur, Jalaka at Mathani in Balasore and Salandi in Bhadrak were also flowing above the danger level.In Balasore district alone, over one lakh people in seven blocks were affected by the fresh flood, and nearly 36,000 were moved to safer locations.Heavy rain and flooding have damaged crops on about 4,480 hectares of farmland across the state. North Odisha districts have experienced repeated floods over the past two months.“I left home and came to a relief camp after floodwater entered our village. I have lost my paddy crop due to repeated floods. We have faced six floods in the last two months,” said Bijay Sahu, a resident of Jajpur.The situation in south Odisha showed improvement as rainfall subsided. Vamsadhara at Kasinagar in Gajapati district was receding, while Rushikulya, Indravati and Kolab rivers remained below the danger level.Meanwhile, heavy rainfall in the upper catchment of Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh prompted authorities to open 20 sluice gates of Hirakud dam. Officials monitoring Mahanadi said the current discharge is unlikely to cause major downstream flooding unless the flow at Mundali near Cuttack reaches seven lakh cusecs or more.India Meteorological Department said the depression has moved towards Madhya Pradesh and is likely to weaken further, reducing rainfall over Odisha from Sunday. In the 24 hours ending Saturday morning, Nawana in Mayurbhanj recorded the highest rainfall at 126 mm, followed by Raighar in Nabarangpur at 107 mm and Khaira in Balasore at 101 mm. Intense rainfall was reported at 19 places across nine districts.Train services were affected after a landslide between Maliguda and Chhatriput stations under the Rayagada railway division. Seven trains were cancelled, while several others were partially cancelled.