Bhubaneswar: Ringing alarm bells among authorities and villagers living in low-lying areas, swollen rivers have started breaching the danger mark at several places in Odisha following incessant rain, sparking fears of flood.
With 28 sluice gates of the Hirakud dam reservoir now open to discharge excess water, Engineer-in-Chief (Water Resources) Bijaya Kumar Mishra warned of a minor flood by August 15 morning.
Mishra said that more gates will be opened if rainfall continues in the upper and lower catchment areas. Around 6 lakh cusecs of water will reach the Mundali barrage by Sunday and around 7 lakh cusecs of water will reach Mundali by August 15 morning, causing a minor flood, he said.
Till 12 pm on Saturday, the inflow at Hirakud was 4,49,508 cusecs of water while 4,07,035 cusecs of water was being released. The water level in the reservoir stood at 617.08 feet.
The Jalaka, Brahmani, Subarnarekha and Salandi rivers have also swollen at different places following continuous downpour.
The Baitarani river in Bhadrak district has breached the danger mark near Akhuapada Anicut. At 1 pm on Saturday, the water level of the river was 17.92 metres, flowing 9 metres above the danger mark of 17.83 metres.
Road communication has been affected in Sambalpur with water flowing over the bridge near Malati-Gunderpur on the Sambalpur-Sonepur road.
In Jaleswar in Balasore district, the Jalaka river has breached the danger mark near Mathani, with water flowing at 6.25 metres against the danger mark of 5.50 metres.
Similarly, following incessant rain in Sonepur district, water is flowing four feet above the Ghungi Nala bridge near Bhutiapali in Biramaharajpur block. Areas near Biramaharajpur connected by the Binika-Dunguripali road have been completely cut off with water flowing over the road.
