Bhubaneswar: Incessant rain over the last 24 hours triggered by a low-pressure area disrupted normal life amid submergence of roads and bridged in low-lying in several parts of Odisha on Saturday.
Sources said Malkangiri was among the severely affected districts as heavy downpour has led to sharp rise in water inflow into major reservoirs.
While inundation of agricultural fields raised concerns among farmers, floodwater is also flowing over the Pangam, Poteru and MV-96 bridges, disrupting vehicular movement. Police personnel have been deployed on both sides of the affected bridges and are preventing commuters from approaching the submerged stretches.
According to the district emergency office, Malkangiri block recorded 136 mm of rainfall in last 24 hours, while Mathili received 85 mm, Khairput 142 mm, Chitrakonda 192 mm, Korukonda 134 mm, Kalimela 85 mm and Padia 29 mm.
The Balimela dam project at Chitrakonda recorded 84 mm rainfall during the last 24 hours. Its reservoir level stood at 1,477.20 ft against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 1,516 ft. Balimela recorded an inflow of 473.0499 million cubic feet (mcft) and an outflow of 113.0499 mcft.
The live storage of the dam stood at 34,390 mcft compared to 49,665 mcft during the corresponding period last year. Odisha’s drawal stood at 102.6327 mcft while there was no drawal by Andhra Pradesh. None of the reservoir’s 10 spillway gates was opened.
Similarly, the Satiguda medium irrigation project recorded 116 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours. The reservoir level stood at 191.25 metre against its FRL of 192.63 metre, compared to 191.10 metre during the corresponding period last year.
The reservoir’s live storage stood at 5,282 hectare-metre against 5,123 hectare-metre during the corresponding period last year. It recorded an inflow of 36.11 cumec, while there was no outflow through the spillway or the left and right main canals.
With continuous rain increasing inflows into reservoirs and waterlogging low-lying pockets, the administration is keeping a close watch on the situation, particularly in vulnerable riverside areas. No major crop damage has been reported so far. However, continuous rainfall could pose a threat to standing paddy crops in low-lying areas and agricultural fields along riverbanks.
Several low-lying agricultural areas have been submerged, particularly in the Poteru region, affecting farming activities. Farmers are worried that prolonged waterlogging could damage standing crops.
In view of the rising water level and waterlogging in downstream areas, power generation at the Balimela OHPC hydroelectric project was ordered to be stopped on Saturday. The project had been generating around 70-80 MW of electricity until Friday.
Following the suspension of power generation at Balimela OHPC, Malkangiri’s electricity demand is currently being met through power supplied from Jayapur.