Bhubaneswar: Union Water Resources secretary UP Singh on Wednesday maintained that there was no threat to the Hirakud dam.
Briefing mediapersons here, he said efforts are on for automatic functioning of Hirkud, which is one of the longest earthen dams in the world. “Apart from this, the Centre has decided to increase the water retaining capacity of the dam from the existing 15 lakh cusecs to 24 lakh cusecs,” said Singh, who arrived in the Odisha capital to attend a two-day Dam Safety Conference beginning Thursday.
The dam currently has 98 flood gates, 64 sliding gate and 34 crest gates to release flood water.
The Odisha government has decided to construct additional spillway on the right-side embankment at a cost of Rs 500 crore. These spillway, to be completed in three years, will release extra water during the high flood.
