Mahanadi Flood Situation Grim In Chhattisgarh, Odisha Govt Alerts Riverside Districts

Bhubaneswar: In view of the worsening flood situation in Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh due to incessant and heavy rainfall, a high alert has been sounded in all riverside districts of Odisha.

A release by the Central Water Commission (CWC) on Saturday afternoon said that the water level of Mahanadi was flowing over the danger mark at Surajgarh and Kalma in Chhattisgarh.

Water level of Mahanadi was flowing at a height of 200.74 metres at Surajgarh, surpassing the previous record of 199.9 metres in 2003, while at Kalma it was flowing at 202.39 metres, which is more than the 2018 record mark of 201.04 metres.

Meanwhile, the water level of the Hirakud dam at 6 pm was 627.23 feet against the optimum level of 630. While the inflow of floodwater to the reservoir was 8,98,042 cusecs per second, the outflow from 46 gates was 7,62,034 cusecs per second.

Due to the discharge of the dam water, the water level of the river has crossed the danger mark at Khairmal with the discharge of 9.83 lakh cusecs per second. Besides, the discharge of floodwater at Barmul and Mundali was 8,88,000 and 9,48,905 cusecs per second, respectively. Besides, the water level of the river was flowing at a height of 26.75 metres against the danger mark of 26.41 metres.

It is expected that over 10 lakh cusecs of floodwater released from the dam will reach Mundali by 5 am on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that heavy rainfall in the upper catchments of Mahanadi will continue for the next 24 hours under the influence of a well-marked low pressure.