Sambalpur: The Hirakud Dam authorities on Friday opened 10 more sluice gates of the reservoir in Odisha’s Sambalpur district to release excess floodwater amid a rise in its water level following heavy rain in upper catchment areas of the Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh.
With the water level of Hirakud reservoir at 617.25 ft against full capacity of 630 feet and inflow of 4.92 lakh cusec, the floodwater is now being released through 12 gates (Left 7 and Right 5) with outflow of over 1.56 lakh cusec. The districts in the downstream of Hirakud dam have been asked to remain alert. The local administration is also actively raising awareness among the people to ensure safety.
Also Read: Water Level In Odisha’s Hirakud Dam Rising; Floodwater Discharge At Mundali Drops To 6.97 Lakh Cusec
Earlier speaking to the media, Engineer-in-chief, Water Resource Department, Bhakta Ranjan Mohanty said that the flood situation, including in Baitarani and Mahanadi, was under control. “There have been reports of breaches at two places but water level of all rivers is receding as there has been no rainfall. Peak flood will pass through low-lying areas of Kendrapada district this afternoon,” he said.
He further added that the fresh floodwater released from the dam will take around 12 hours to reach Khairamal.
Notably, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued no more rain warning for Odisha. Light to moderate rain or thundershower is likely at many places in North Interior Odisha and at a few places in remaining parts of the state on Friday and Saturday. Light to moderate rain or thundershower may occur at a few places in the state during the subsequent two days. Yellow warning of thunderstorm with lightning has been issued for one or two places in Sundargarh, Deogarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj on August 6. Similar warning has been sounded for one or two places in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapasda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal, Angul, Khurda and Puri on August 7.
On August 8, light to moderate rain or thundershower is likely at many places in North Coastal Odisha and at a few places over the rest districts of the state. Yellow warning of thunderstorm with lightning has also been issued for one or two places in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Khurda, Malkangiri, Koraput and Gajapati districts on this day with little in the weather conditions thereafter.
