No Major Flood Threat In Mahanadi: Odisha Govt

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Wednesday claimed that there was no major flood threat in Mahanadi.

Principal Secretary, Water Resources, Pradip Jena told the media that as per estimations, the inflow of Mahanadi floodwater at Khairmal would be between 11-11.5 lakh cusecs per second.

The inflow was 11 lakh cusecs between 9 pm (Tuesday) and 1 am (Wednesday) after which the rate started receding. The inflow at Patharla was 9.25 lakh cusecs per second at 8 pm (Tuesday) and then started reducing.

Floodwater To Reach Mundali At Midnight

“Taking this into consideration, we expect that the average inflow of floodwater at Mundali barrage will be around 10.5/11 lakh cusecs or may be 10.5 lakh cusecs. Considering the velocity of the floodwater, it is expected that the floodwater from Khairmal will reach Mundali barrage between 12 midnight and 1 am tonight,” Jena said.

“It will take at least six hours for the peak flood to pass through Mundali. Hence, we can expect the peak flood in Mahanadi in the lower catchments from 3 am to 10 am tomorrow,” he said, adding that it will take 16-30 hours for the floodwater from Mundali to reach the sea.

Locals Told To Watch Out For Breaches 

Talking about the release of floodwater from Mundali, the secretary informed there will be a medium flood. However, there will be no threat to the embankments because the inflow of floodwater in the lower catchments will be around 10.5 lakh cusecs per second.

“We have asked the engineers to be alert and also sought help from police and people to constantly patrol the embankments in their locality and inform the department if there is the possibility of a breach at any place,” he added.

Opening Of Dam Gates

Regarding the opening of the Hirakud dam gates, Jena said though it was decided that four gates will be opened, the decision has been put on hold due to the flood situation in the lower catchments.

“Once the situation in the lower catchments becomes normal, we will open the dam gates in phases. As per the rule curve, the water from the dam will be released if the water level touches 621 feet. As the water level of the dam is expected to touch 621 feet in two days, we expect that there will be no problem in releasing the floodwater from the dam as by that time the excess floodwater from the lower catchments will have passed through the Mundali barrage,” he pointed out.