SAMBALPUR: As many 6 sluice gates of the Hirakud Dam were opened in phased manner on Monday. Four gates were opened till Sunday. With this, there are 10 gates open at present. With Central Water Commission (CWC) predicting more rains in the next four days, Odisha is watching water release from Chhattisgarh into the Hirakud Dam.
The inflow of water to the reservoir has increased tremendously in last few days. According to dam officials, as on Saturday afternoon, after the gates were opened on Monday, the outflow has surpassed the inflow and the situation is under control.
The reservoir level is also within safe limit. Considering the current situation, there might not be any need for opening more gates. After the 10 gates were opened, at 9 pm on Monday, the reservoir level stood at 609.91 ft against the full reservoir level of 630 ft. The average inflow was 1,61,751 cusecs whereas the outflow was 1,72,556 cusecs including 1,48,540 cusecs from spillway besides 19,789 cusecs from power channel, 272 cusecs from industries and 3,955 cusecs from canal.