SAMBALPUR: The Hirakud Dam authorities have decided to open the gates of the reservoir to release excess floodwater from Saturday.
In a statement issued on Friday, chief engineer and manager of Mahanadi Basin said, “Due to rainfall in the catchment areas of the dam, the reservoir is witnessing heavy inflow of water.
As a result, it is proposed to open gates of Hirakud on Saturday. The number of gates to be opened may increase depending upon the rainfall and inflow.”
All the dam gates were closed on August 3 after a decrease in inflow of water into the reservoir.
Official sources said at 6 pm on Friday, the water level of Hirakud Dam stood at 618.39 ft against the full reservoir capacity of 630 ft, also considered the danger level.
While the average inflow of water into the reservoir was recorded at 2,35,856 Cusec, the outflow from the dam was only 35,641 Cusec (31,560 to power channel), (3,867 for irrigation) and (214 Cusec to industries).