BALASORE : Even as there is no rain in the district for last 12 hours, fear of a flash flood in river Subarnarekha loomed large on Wednesday with Chandli dam in Jharkhand releasing nearly two lakh cusecs of water.
Sources said, the dam had opened eight gates in two phases on Tuesday. In the first phase, 1.20 lakh cusecs of water was released followed by 70,000 cusecs in the second phase. The water is expected to enter Balasore by Wednesday night.
Officials are apprehensive of flood in the Subarnarekha basin if the water is not let out easily. Water level in the river stood at 8.54 metres, just about two metres below the red mark of 10.36. The river’s water level is increasing at 0.20 metre per hour.
“If the water level in Subarnarekha crosses 11.5 metre mark, flash flood cannot be ruled out in at least 21 panchayats comprising over 82 villages in Jaleswar block and 14 panchayats in Bhogarai block. The villagers have been alerted about the possibility of a flood and directed to make necessary preparations,” said the emergency officer.
Balasore Collector Aravind Agrawal, Sub-Collector Indramani Biswal and Jaleswar Tehsildar Rajanikant Biswal visited the flood-prone areas and river embankments in different areas. Biswal who visited Mankidia, Batighar, Malipal, Laxmannath, Sikharpur and DP Pur villages, said flattened rice, jaggery and rice have been kept ready for distribution if the areas are affected by floods.
On the other hand, water in Jalaka, Kansabansa and Budhabalanga rivers is receding. Both Jalaka and Kansabansa, which were flowing above the danger level on Tuesday, receded to 4.20 metre mark and 7.345 metre mark respectively by 8 pm on Wednesday.
Normalcy was restored in the flood-hit areas in Simulia, Khaira and Soro blocks which were affected by floods in Kansabansa. Vehicular movement has been smooth after restoration works were carried out in the interior parts of these blocks.