The Odisha government-initiated measures to avoid a major flood in the Mahanadi River by closing eight gates of the Hirakud dam. Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena informed that even though the rainfall activities have reduced in lower catchment areas, the upper catchment areas of Hirakud are experiencing rainfall.
According to the reports, three river basins- Indravati, Tel and Mahanadi recorded heavy rainfall under the influence of the depression over the Bay of Bengal in the past 24 hours. Till yesterday, it was expected that there would be an inflow of around 7 lakh cusecs of water into the Hirakud dam. However, it has now increased to 8.5 lakh cusecs.
The report further added that there has been a considerable rise in the water level of several tributaries of Mahanadi. The water from upper and lower catchment areas is causing the Mahanadi River to swell.
The closing down of Hirakud dam gates will reduce the water level by 1.20 lakh cusecs. “At present, 9.1 lakh cusecs of floodwater are passing through Mundali and it has been decided to keep the outflow through Mundali by 10.5 lakh to 11 lakh cusecs,” said Jena.
SRC further informed that 5 additional teams of ODRAF, 7 NDRF and over 20 teams of fire services department had been deployed in Boudh, Angul, Sonepur, Nayagarh, and Cuttack, Khordha, Puri and Kendrapara districts.
Jagatsinghpur and Puri face maximum threat due to flooding in Mahanadi. The impact will also be seen in Cuttack’s Nischintakoili, Athagarh, Banki and Sonepur’s Biramitrapur. Nayagarh’s Kantilo, Bhapur, and Boudh’s Harabhanga will be inundated.
