Bhubaneswar: After two days of incessant and widespread rain, Odisha is bracing for ‘low to medium’ flood in the Mahanadi river system by Thursday evening when the flow of water at Mundali is likely to reach its peak, engineer-in-chief, Water Resources Department, Bhakta Ranjan Mohanty said.
“Mahanadi river at Mundali is likely to see 9 to 9.5 lakh cusec flow of floodwater by the evening, which is why tonight is crucial. The floodwater will reach Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada and Puri districts tomorrow. Low-lying areas in these 3 districts are under focus,” he said.
Floodwater discharge in Mahandi at Mundali and Barmul at noon was 8.65 lakh cusec and 9.27 lakh cusecs respectively. Floodwater level has started receding at Barmul since 8 am.
Mohanty further said floodwater has not breached any embankment so far. “Authorities in Puri, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Khurda have been alerted to meet any eventuality. Senior officers are also in the field. Some low-lying areas in Nayagarh and Cuttack have been affected by the flood,” he added.
The office of Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) had earlier informed that around 8 lakh cusecs of floodwater is likely to pass in the Mahanadi at Mundali near Cuttack city by noon. Collectors of Angul, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapada districts have been asked to take precautionary measures and guard weak embankments.
Confirming the apprehension of a medium-scale flood, SRC Satyabrata Sahu said that 481 villages in 12 districts have been affected by incessant rains. “Collectors have been asked to submit damage assessment reports after rain subsides. Preparations have been made in seven districts in view of possible flood in Mahanadi system,” he said.
His office has also directed for ensuring 24×7 patrolling of vulnerable river embankments with support of local police and Department of Water Resources (DoWR) engineers, evacuation of people from low-lying areas as may be required and shifting them to safe shelter buildings with light, toilet, water and food arrangements.
Senior engineers of DoWR have been deployed to monitor and oversee flood in Mahanadi river system, it added.
Eight NDRF teams, 13 ODRAF teams and 85 Fire Services teams have also been deployed in 15 districts– Bhadrak, Jajpur, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Angul, Sonepur, Boudh, Kandhamal, Balasore, Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapada– for search and rescue operations.
62 Fire & Emergency Services Teams with boats have also been deployed in Kendrapada (10), Cuttack Sadar (10), Athagarh (8), Jagatsinghpur (9), Khurda (5), Nayagarh (8) and Puri (12) to assist the district administrations.
