BHUBANESWAR: A low to medium flood in Mahanadi river system is likely to hit coastal districts on Saturday night because of heavy rainfall in Chhattisgarh and increase in the water level at Hirakud dam.
The water level of Hirakud dam has increased from 628.65 feet at 12 noon on Thursday to 628.81 feet, while the inflow into the reservoir is 4.99 lakh cusec against outflow of 4.86 lakh cusec, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena told mediapersons here. He said 28 gates of the reservoir have been opened to release the excess flood water.
Stating that water discharged from the dam will take 36 hours to reach Mundali, the SRC said as per the information of the Water Resources department, eight lakh cusec of water is expected to flow through the barrage of Mahanadi between Saturday morning and noon. The peak flood will pass through Kendrapara and Puri on Saturday evening and night, he said, adding that the administrations of both the districts have been alerted.
The SRC said the flood will have no major impact if embankments are strong enough. Officials have been asked to keep close vigil and patrolling has already started, he added.As a precautionary measures, 30 ODRAF, 12 NDRF and 10 fire services teams have been mobilised for Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Cuttack and Puri districts. “We also appeal to people living in riverside villages and near embankments to help the administration. We hope no adverse situation will arise,” Jena said.
He said nine people have died in Odisha due to heavy rainfall which lashed the State for three days. While three people died in Kendrapara, two lost their lives in Jajpur. There was one each death in Khurda, Ganjam, Keonjhar and Subarnapur districts.According to SRC, water level in all the major rivers Mahanadi, Devi, Kushabhadra and Bramhani is falling. However, water level in Baitarani, Subarnarekha and Budhabalanga rivers is rising.