BHUBANESWAR: As the blame game between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over release of excess flood water into the Mahanadi river system continues, management of flood water by Hirakud dam authorities is under radar. Even as the authorities pinned the blame on their counterparts in Chhattisgarh for not sharing timely data on reservoir position and the quantum of water to be released into Hirakud dam, informed sources said this year’s flood is a repeat of 2011.
This time the IMD had predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in Chhattisgarh and the CWC had shared data with State government about the possible discharge of flood water to the Hirakud reservoir.
Chief engineer of Hirakud Dam Ananda Chandra Sahu told TNIE that a Chhattisgarh official on August 13 requested opening of more gates of Hirakud dam as the reservoirs in the upstream of Mahanadi was swelling. But the officer concerned was not ready to share the amount of flood water to be discharged into Hirakud.
“I asked him to tell his Chief Engineer to talk to me as I needed specific information. Since there was no response from the Chhattisgarh counterpart, there was no need to open more gates. As more flood water was discharged into our reservoir without any intimation from the other side, we had to open more gates,” he said. A senior officer said the Water Resources department has 36 rain gauge stations and eight rain gauge discharge stations in Chhattisgarh and they are managed by Odisha officials.
“The department has fair amount of information on rainfall and discharge of flood water which is enough for flood management,” he added. Had the dam authorities planned the water management in the reservoir as per the IMD forecasts, the impact could have been less but were forced to open 40 gates when inflow of flood water from Chhattisgarh became difficult to manage .
Sahu said it is difficult to manage flood water discharged from Chhattisgarh reservoirs without prior information as the two states share one hydro meteorological boundary. He said repeated requests to Chhattisgarh for a coordination meeting before and during monsoon season have been ignored putting Odisha in a tight spot.
What is, however, baffling is the silence of the State government which is yet to take up the issue with Chhattisgarh. The 2011 flood, which came in two phases, was then dubbed as ‘man made’ by the opposition. In 2017, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had pulled up the Hirakud Dam authorities for not adhering to the State Water Policy, Flood Management Manual and forecasts of the IMD and Central Water Commission (CWC) resulting in severe floods in the lower basin of Mahanadi river in 2011.