BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of a flood in the Mahanadi river system as yet even as four persons reportedly died to the heavy rainfall received across Odisha during the last two days due to the impact of the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal which crossed the coast at Chandbali on Monday morning.
Addressing a media conference here on Tuesday, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said that the state had deficient rainfall in June, July, and August following which drought-like situation had developed in some districts. However, during the last two days the state received 156 mm rainfall while the range of normal rainfall in the state in September is around 225mm, he added.
Stating that ten districts recorded rainfall of over 200 mm in the past 24 hours, the SRC said that nine districts received rainfall between 100 and 200 mm during the period. The highest-ever rainfall was recorded in Angul and Sonepur districts of the State in the last 24 hours, he said and added that while Talcher recorded maximum rainfall of 394 mm, Biramaharajpur received 372 mm rainfall and Sonepur town received 282.8 mm rainfall, respectively.
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The SRC said that two blocks in the state received rainfall of over 530 mm during the last two days while several other areas received huge rain leading to waterlogging of low-lying areas. Some of the villages were also marooned while road communication was also cut off in some places, he said, adding the situation is now under control.
Stating that agricultural land was inundated in a large area and houses were also damaged, the SRC said that it will take three to four days for the damages to be assessed.
Meanwhile, the water level of Mahanadi at Naraj is rising. The water level at Naraj was 24.26 meter at 12 noon and had increased from 23.78 meter at 9 am against the warning level of 25.41 meter. The SRC said that Jalaka River is flowing above danger mark. Baitarani River has also swelled and officials have been put on alert for any emergency situation.
The water level of Hirakud was 626.27 feet against its storage capacity of 630 feet. While the upstream areas of the dam witnessed 46.46 mm of rain, the downstream areas have experienced 122.94 mm of rain in last two days. Around 1.95 lakh cusec of water is entering the dam per second and the inflow is expected to rise, he said.