Bhubaneswar: Odisha could stare at a minor flood in Mahanadi river system as the Deep Depression over northwest Bay of Bengal is expected to dump extremely heavy rains in several districts of Odisha during the next 24 hours.
“Right now, there is no flood situation in the state. A minor flood may occur in Mahanadi river system under the impact of the incessant rains,” Water Resources Engineer-In-Chief Chandrasekhar Padhi told the media.
He said that water level at the Hirakud Dam stood at 623.93 feet against its full reservoir capacity of 630 feet and the average inflow of water into the reservoir is around 50,00 cusec. “Yesterday, Munduli experienced an average rainfall of 30 mm. There is not much water in the river system. The IMD has forecast 76-100mm rainfall in downstream of Hirakud Dam during the next 24 hours. If a floor occurs, it will pass without much trouble with discharge of less than 5 lakh cusec at Mundali,” he said.
All the officers of the Water Resources Department have been alerted and 24 hour control room has also been opened, he added.
Earlier speaking to the media, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Deoranjan Kumar Singh allayed fears of flood in the river system. “There is not much water in the Mahanadi river system. So there is no flood threat as of now, though we are closely monitoring the situation. But if it rains heavily, there might be flash floods in the low-lying areas,” he said.
While 39,000 cusec of water is being released through different canals, Hirakud dam authorities are yet to open any gates of the reservoir. Since there is no rain in the upper catchments areas of the Mahanadi, the probability of opening the gates is less, sources said.
THE FORECAST
The IMD has sounded red warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20cm) at a few places with isolated extremely heavy rainfall (>20cm) for Ganjam, Kandhamal, Nayagarh, Khurda, Balangir, Boudh and Puri till 8,30 am on Tuesday. Heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20cm) may occur at isolated places in Cuttack, Angul, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Sonepur, Bargarh, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Rayagada, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Gajapati, and Sambalpur districts. There is also yellow warning of heavy rainfall (7 to 11cm) for isolated places in Bhadarak, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, and Sundargarh.
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It further said that the rains may lead to significant rise in water level of rivers. It has warned of low to moderate flash flood risk in Angul, Balangir, Balasore, Bargarh, Boudh, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghapur, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Kendrapada, Kandhamal, Khurda, Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangapur, Nuapada, Puri, Sambalpur, Sonepur and Sundargarh districts.
MEANWHILE IN MALKANGIRI….
The Odisha Government has swung into action and deployed disaster response forces in vulnerable pockets to cope with exigencies amid reports of landslide and deluge in Malkangiri and Koraput districts amid reports of damage triggered by very heavy to heavy rainfall. Large parts of Malkangiri have been cut off due to waterlogging and submersion of roads. Road communication between Malkangiri and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has been severed with floodwater overflowing on most small and big bridges (from Pangam to Motu Road) and 504 people were evacuated from marooned areas and sheltered in four relief camps. Six units of ODRAF have been deployed in the district to undertake relief and rescue operations.
Also Read: Odisha Govt Deputes 3 Officers To ‘Cut-Off’ Malkangiri, Readies For Impact Of Deep Depression
The district recorded 253 mm rainfall till morning hours and torrential rain continued to lash the district till the last reports received from the district emergency office.
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