Red Alert Issued In Odisha’s Rayagada & Kalahandi As River Bansadhara Flows Close To Danger Mark

Rayagada: With river Bansadhara flowing close to danger level due to torrential rain, the Met office on Tuesday issued a red alert for the people living close to the river in Odisha’s Rayagada and Kalahandi districts.

According to the Met office data, the water level of Bansadhara crossed warning mark at Gunupur on Tuesday. While the warning level of the river is 83 metre and danger level at 84 meter, the water was flowing at 83.57 metre near Gunupur.

The water level of Nagabali and Jhanjabati rivers has also gone up. But the Met officials have not issued any alert as there is no mechanism to measure the water level of the two rivers in Rayagada district, the sources said.

Bansadhara has been in spate due to torrential rain in its upper catchment areas in the district. Highest 101.2 mm rainfall was recorded in Muniguda, followed by 55.08 mm in Gunupur, 93.6 mm in Mohana, 73.8 mm in Gudari and 45 mm in Chandrapur in the last 24 hour, according to the Met office.

As the rain was continuing in the district on Tuesday, Bansadhara is likely to cross the danger mark at night. Considering this, the Met office has issued the red alert and advised the people along the banks of Bansadhara to move to safer places.

Meanwhile, superintending engineer of Harabhangi irrigation project in neighbouring Gajapati district has also alerted the people as the water level of the reservoir has gone up to its 85% capacity. As the project authorities would have to release excess water in case of more rain, the people staying along Bansadhara banks in Gudari, Gunupur, Padmapur, Mohana and Kasinagar have been told to remain alert.