Major Rivers In Spate, Large Scale Flood In Coastal Districts Of Odisha Likely

Bhubaneswar: With water level continuing to rise in major rivers of the state including Mahanadi, Brahmani and Subarnarekha, there is a possibility of a medium to large scale flood particularly in the coastal districts, said Engineer-In-Chief, Water Resources department Jyotirmaya Rath.

Speaking to mediapersons, Rath said around 200 mm average rainfall was recorded in the upper catchment areas of Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh in the last 24 hours. At present, 4.53 lakh cusec of water was being released from the reservoir through 31 sluice gates of the dam.

As rivers Ib, Jira, Ong and Suktel are also in a spate, 3 lakh cusec flow is expected into the Mahanadi system. By evening, three more gates of Hirakud dam are likely to be opened which will release around 6 lakh cusec of water. One lakh cusec inflow is also expected from Khairmal, 100 km down Hirakud. Thus, cumulative 10 lakh cusec of water is expected at Mundali barrage after 36 hours.

It is expected to flood coastal districts like Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Nayagarh, said Rath.

He further said though Baitarani is flowing above the danger mark, its water level is receding since Thursday. Four sluice gates have been opened to release excess water from Rengali dam reservoir in Angul district due to heavy rain in upper basin of Brahmani river. While three gates were opened earlier, one more gate was opened on Friday.

Considering the heavy inflow of water, as many as 13 gates have been opened at Samal barrage. While the water level of Rengali reservoir was 122.8 metre, 7613 cumec water was released, according to official sources.

Around 10 Test Relief Embankments (TRE) in Bari and one in Duttapur in Jajpur district have breached and will be repaired once the water recedes, Rath said.

Similarly, Subarnarekha river was flowing above danger level after release of floodwater from Galudih barrage on Thursday. Around 10 panchayats under Baliapal block and five panchayats under Bhograi block in Balasore district will be affected by flood, said Rath.