ROURKELA: Residents of low-lying areas of Brahmani river in Rourkela and those residing downstream in Bonai sub-division heaved a sigh of relief after the river recorded a drop in water-level on Sunday.
Just a day back on Saturday, the river was still swelling and flowing above danger level at its originating point in Rourkela, prompting the administration to evacuate around 300 residents of Balughat area to safety. The raging Brahmani was flowing at 178.72 metre above the danger mark of 178.42 metre, giving sleepless nights to those residing along the banks of the river.
Sources in the Water Resources department informed that the water-level of the river was going down, attributing the improvement in situation to the drop in rainfall activity from midnight in the catchment areas. “At around 1.30 pm on the day, the river was flowing at 176.64 metre against the warning level of 177.51 metre and danger mark of 178.72 metre,” they informed. Amid less inflow of water from its major tributaries, Sankh and Koel rivers, the officials expected further improvement in the situation.
“In view of the receding floodwater level at Balughat along Brahmani river, around 200 people returned home while 102 others are still under shelter at two schools. They are being provided cooked food. The administration is keeping a close watch on the situation,” informed Rourkela tehsildar Salma Majhi.
Sources said, this was the second flood threat for Balughat in the last 10 days. Meanwhile, with the swelling of the Suna nullah, residents of Gopisahi hamlet in Adaghat village of Malda panchayat in Koida block of Bonai sub-division continue to remain cut-off from the rest of the district for the past three days.
Except for the rainy season, the nullah remains dry throughout the year. Such is the situation during monsoon that villagers usually have to wade through knee-deep waters. However, the current situation is reportedly even more dangerous. On Saturday, vehicular traffic on NH-520 was affected for some time after a major landslide from the adjacent hill partially blocked the carriageway. While communication has resumed from the unaffected side of the carriageway, efforts are on to clear the debris, sources said.