Mahanadi Floodwater Recedes, Six Gates Of Hirakud Dam Closed

Bhubaneswar: With a gradual fall in the water level of Mahanadi due to less rainfall in the upper catchments, the Odisha government on Saturday said that there will be a normal flood in the lower catchments.

Talking to the media, Engineer-in-Chief, Water Resources Dhiren Samal said there has been a gradual fall in the water level of Mahanadi since 6 am on Friday due to less rainfall in Chhattisgarh.

The inflow of the floodwater to the reservoir, which was 3,71,264 cusecs at 6 am, had come down to 3,56,967 cusecs at 9 am, he said.

By 9 am, the water level of the Hirakud Dam was 628.21 feet against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 630 feet while the outflow from 18 gates was 4,07,791 cusecs.

Due to the less inflow of the floodwater, the dam authorities closed six gates this morning, he added.

Samal further said that 6.14 lakh cusecs of floodwater was discharged from Khairmal, 6.13 lakh cusecs from Barmul and 6.76 lakh cusecs from Mundali by 9 am.

“As the discharge of the floodwater is less than 7 lakh cusecs from Mundali, there will be a normal flood in the lower catchments,” he added.

He further informed that since Mahanadi was flowing at 25.75 metres against the danger level of 26.41 metres at Naraj, the backwater of the river had entered the low-lying riverside areas in Banki and Athagarh blocks in Cuttack district.

“Floodwater of the river is also expected to enter low-lying areas of Salepur block in Cuttack and Kanas block in Puri and some areas in Khurda district,” he added.