Bhubaneswar: With the water level of Mahanadi further coming down, a low-intensity flood is expected in the lower catchment areas of the river, said the Water Resources Department on Sunday.
Due to less rainfall in the upper catchments, the Hirakud Dam authorities closed eight gates on Sunday morning. The floodwater is now being released from the four gates.
The dam authorities had closed six gates on Saturday night.
The water level of the dam at 3 pm on Sunday was 628.62 feet while the inflow and outflow of the floodwater were 2,23,460 cusecs and 95,284 cusecs respectively. Besides, the discharge of the floodwater was 3.15 lakh cusecs at Khairmal, 4.18 lakh cusecs at Barmul and 6,14,365 cusecs at Mundali.
Due to heavy rainfall in the upper catchments, the dam authorities had opened 28 gates in a phased manner by September 15.
