Burla: The Hirakud Dam authorities released the season’s first floodwater on Tuesday.
According to reports, the Dam authorities released the floodwater through sluice gate no-7 at 12 pm and subsequently through the gate no-8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.
Talking to mediapersons, Chief Engineer of Hirakud Dam Jyotirmaya Rath said about 15,000-16,000 cusecs of water per second is being released from each gate.
Asked about the number of gates the dam authorities have decided to open on Tuesday, he said “We have decided to open 15 gates by tonight in a phased manner. While five sluice gates of the main dam have been opened, five each at the left and right spillway of the dam would be opened subsequently with the release of about 2 lakh cusecs of water per second.”
Stating that the water level of the reservoir at the time of the opening of the gates was 618.08 feet, he said the dam authorities would try to bring down the water level to 608-609 feet as per the Rule Curve.
“In view of the rising water level in the Hirakud reservoir, we have decided to open the sluice gates to release the excess water,” he added.
Asked whether the release of water from the reservoir will trigger flood in the downstream areas, Rath said the volume of the floodwater, which had drastically come down at Mundali before the release of the floodwater from the Hirakud Dam, will have decreased further by the time the floodwater released from the dam reaches the barrage. It will take about 40 hours, he added.
Prior to the release of the dam water, the district administration had warned the people living nearby the reservoir area and asked them to move to safer place. Besides, the dam authorities had also informed the collectors of the riverside districts about the release of water.
