Bhubaneswar: Six more sluice gates were opened at Hirakud Dam to release more floodwater into the Mahanadi River this morning.
With these six gates now open, water is being released through a total of 14 gates—nine on the left and five on the right—of the Hirakud reservoir.
The Odisha Department of Water Resources (DoWR) reported that 587,560 cusecs of water were flowing at Mundali in Mahanadi as of 6:00 am on Friday. By 8:00 am, the flow had reached 5.78 lakh cusecs. The water level in the reservoir was recorded at 612.25 feet at 6:00 am, below its maximum capacity of 630 feet, with 286,136 cusecs being released.
In response, the Odisha State Relief Commissioner (SRC) has issued an alert to the district Collectors in Mahanadi’s lower catchment area. The Collectors of Sambalpur, Sonepur, Nayagarh, Angul, Boudh, Puri, Khordha, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, and Kendrapara have been instructed to stay vigilant.
The SRC has directed the authorities to closely monitor low-lying areas, restrict access to submerged roads, culverts, and bridges, and report any incidents immediately.
Furthermore, the release of water from the Hirakud Dam has led to a quasi-flood situation in Banki, with water overflowing into the river basin’s shallow regions.
The culvert linking Lladabhuum-Khandhata in Athagarh, Cuttack district, is experiencing water flow two feet above its level, disrupting traffic. Concurrently, vast expanses of farmland in the Tigiria and Uttarbanki regions are submerged in the Uttarbanki Mahabar area.
