Bhubaneswar, July 29: Floods triggered by incessant rainfall have claimed three lives, including a fire service personnel, and affected over two lakh people across 748 villages in six districts of Odisha, officials said on Wednesday.

Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur are the worst-hit districts, while Dhenkanal, Mayurbhanj and Sambalpur have also suffered extensive damage. More than 30,000 people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas.

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said all three deaths were reported from Keonjhar district. The victims include a fire personnel who died of electrocution, an elderly person killed in a wall collapse, and a child swept away by floodwaters.

As many as 226 villages remain marooned, while floodwaters have damaged 761 houses and submerged nearly 8,000 hectares of farmland. Authorities have deployed over 60 teams of the NDRF, ODRAF and Fire Services for rescue and relief operations, with senior IAS officers monitoring the situation in the worst-affected districts.

Major rivers, including the Baitarani, Salandi and Jalaka, continue to flow above the danger mark at several locations. Government officials' leave has been cancelled in affected districts, and schools and anganwadi centres have been closed in 10 districts due to heavy rain.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi reviewed the flood situation from New Delhi. Meanwhile, the Water Resources Department has warned of a moderate flood in the Mahanadi river system, which could impact Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda and Cuttack districts. Around 9 lakh cusecs of water is expected to be released at Mundali by Thursday evening, officials said.