Bhubaneswar, Sept 19 : The death toll in the current rain and flood has gone up to twelve in Orissa.

Three children were washed away in Tel river in Subarnapur district.

According to the state Disaster Management department, the water level in Mahanadi river system is steadily rising though rainfall has stopped in upper and lower catchments.

Evacuation operation has been launched on a big scale to shift the residents of low-lying areas to safer places.

As many as 26 gates of the Hirakud dam on Mahanadi have been opened for quick discharge of water as the level in the reservoir reached its full capacity of 630 feet, official sources said.

Bhubaneswar, Sept 16 : Fresh violence erupted on Tuesday in Orissa as an armed mob gunned down a police constable and torched a police station at Gochapada in the communally sensitive Kandhamal District.

Armed with country-made guns and crude weapons, a group of about 500 shot dead a constable and set ablaze the police station early this morning, police sources said.

Bhubaneswar, Sept 4 : Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Praveen Togadia’s proposed yatra carrying the ashes of slain Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati throught Orissa will not be allowed assured the State’s Government told the Supreme Court on Thursday.

A bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, directed the state government to ensure that no untoward incident takes place in riot-hit Kandhamal District.

The Orissa government said prohibitory orders under section-144 have been clamped in the area.

Bhubaneswar, Sept 4 : Orissa is slowly returning to normalcy as banks, shops, business establishments, schools and other offices are opened on Thursday following the lifting of day curfew in Jeypur town of Koraput District.

The day curfew has been lifted after four days as situation has improved. The vehicular traffic from the district headquarters of Koraput and Jeypur has resumed.

According to official sources, no fresh violence or untoward incident has been reported from anywhere in the district for the last three days.

Bhubaneshwar, Sep 3 : Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil today reviewed the situation in Kandhamal at a meeting held at Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, senior officials and leaders of political parties.

Patil also toured some of the worst-affected areas and relief centres in Kandhamal, official sources said.

Under attack for prohibiting outsiders from visiting Kandhamal, the state government on Wednesday lifted restrictions on entry into the district. Senior BJP leaders are likely to visit Kandhamal on Thursday.

Bhubaneswar, Sep 3: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil will arrive in Orissa today for an on the spot assessment of the situation in the violence-hit areas of the State.

During his visit, Patil will discuss the situation with the representatives of the State government in Bhubaneswar. Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal also visited the State recently.

The Union Home Secretary and other senior officers of the Home Ministry have been in close touch with the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and other senior officers of the State.