BHAWANIPATNA/MALKANGIRI/JEYPORE:Heavy rains lashed several parts of the State on Sunday due to a low pressure over the Bay of Bengal with the Meteorological department forecasting more showers for the next 48 hours.
Rains continued to pound different parts of Kalahandi district since Saturday night giving rise to fear of flood. As per reports, till 8 am on Sunday, 98.6 mm rainfall was recorded in Bhawanipatna, 134 mm in M Rampur, 194 mm in Thuamul Rampur, 100 mm in Kalampur, 78 mm in Junagarh and 73.4 mm in Karlamunda. Several low lying areas of Bhawanipatna have turned into swamps completely paralysing normal life due to the heavy rains.
Power supply has also been affected due to the downpour. There is no report of flood in any major river till last reports came in. However, Hati, Ret and Udanti rivers are in spate, sources said. Keeping the situation in view, two of the three turbines of Indravati project have been closed and power generation has been reduced to 150 MW to check inflow of water from Indravati project to Hati river. From Mangalpur barrage, only 83 cumax of water has been released to Hati river.The district administration has directed block and tehsil officials to keep a close watch on the situation.
Water level rises in Chitrakonda dam
A report from Malkangiri says that water level continues to rise in Chitrakonda dam reservoir owing to heavy rains in the past couple of days.Chitrakonda-based Balimela Dam Project executive engineer A S Narayan Das said the water level in the reservoir on Sunday was recorded at 1,507.80 feet as compared to 1,475.60 feet on the same day last year. “It is very close to the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 1,516.00 feet”, he said.
“The water level started to increase from the lowest of 1,447.03 feet due to heavy downpour in the district. There was considerable increase in water level as the catchment area of the dam reservoir received good rainfall this year in the last 15 days”, Das said. The inflow of water was 2,944.3181 million cubic (mc) feet against outflow of 424.3181 mc feet. While, the maximum Live Storage (MLS) of the dam is 94,500.00 mc feet, the Dead Storage Level (DSL) is 1,440.00 ft, he added.
The water level is expected to rise further as the upstream area has recorded heavy rainfall. The gates of the dam would be opened once the dam reservoir water level touches Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 1,516 ft, the executive engineer said, adding that the situation is being monitored closely.
Upper Kolab Dam sluice gate opened after 12 years
Koraput: One sluice gate of Upper Kolab Project Dam was opened by the authorities after a gap of 12 years due to incessant rainfall across Koraput district for the last 45 hours. Superintendent Engineer of Upper Kolab project Surendra Kumar Sahu said the capacity of full reservoir level (FRL) of the dam is 858.15 metres while the water level in the reservoir had risen to a height of 856.7 metres necessitating the release of flood water. The water inflow to the reservoir was 365 cubic metres per second and hence to reduce the level of water by 0.7 metre, water was released at 400 cubic metres per second, he added. it will take at least 36 hours to reduce the desired water level, Sahu said. The authorities of the dam had earlier held discussions with the district administration over opening of the sluice gate. The released water would flow into the river and there is no fear of flooding in the villages, said Debabrata Karati, district emergency officer.
CCE violates admin’s orders
Malkangiri : Even as heavy rains have led to a flood-like situation in Malkangiri district, Balimela- based Potteru Irrigation Project (PIP) Chief Construction Engineer (CCE) B K Kalta was found violating the administration’s orders not to leave the project headquarters. The CCE was also absent during a meeting chaired by Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi here on Saturday to review the post flood situation. Sources said the CCE, since his posting to Balimela three months ago, has attended office for just 15 days. Reacting to a WhatsApp message sent by this reporter regarding Kalta’s absence from office, Water Resources department Principal Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena immediately sought an explanation from the CCE on his absence from office without his approval. Meanwhile, Kalta told ‘Express’ that he frequently visits Bhubaneswar for official work.