SAMBALPUR: The water level has reached an alarming level in Hirakud Dam Reservoir (HDR) following incessant rainfall in the upper catchments of Mahanadi river. Till Thursday evening, the dam authorities were releasing flood waters through 16 sluice gates.As on 6 pm, the water level stood at 622.08 ft against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 630 ft. In the last 24 hours, the upstream of Hirakud Dam received 63.57 mm rainfall while the downstream recorded 86.17 mm. The inflow of water into the reservoir was 5,56,010 cusec and the outflow was 2,68,800 cusec at 6 pm on the day.
Chief Engineer of Upper Mahanadi Basin Sunil Nayak said there has been a huge inflow of water into Hirakud dam in the last 24 hours. The current water level is considered the danger level, he informed. Currently, water is being released through 16 sluice gates, 11 on the left and 5 on right, to control the flood situation. “We are closely monitoring the situation. If required, we will take a call on opening more gates to release flood water,” he said.
Meanwhile, heavy rains continued to lash Sambalpur district on the day. The district received 116.67 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours. The average rainfall received during the month till August 27 was 642.28 mm. Sources said the rains wreaked havoc in few parts of the district. While communication between Kuchinda and Jharsuguda was cut off for over 16 hours after a culvert between Patrapali and Khandokata was submerged in floodwater, some houses in Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) area got damaged due to the rains.