Odisha braces for flood like situation as Mahanadi swells

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Bhubaneswar, Aug 16:
Odisha
is
bracing
for
a
possible
flood-like
situation
in
several
districts,
with
the
water
level
of
the
Mahanadi
river
swiftly
rising
following
heavy
rain
in
the
catchment
areas
over
the
last
few
days,
officials
said.

As
part
of
efforts
to
deal
with
the
circumstances,
the
state
government
has
closed
eight
more
gates
in
the
Hirakud
reservoir,
they
said,
according
to
news
agency
PTI.

Torrential
rain
in
the
upper
and
lower
catchment
areas
has
led
to
the
rise
in
water
levels
in
all
tributaries
of
the
Mahanadi,
the
officials
said.

Odisha,
Bengal
brace
for
heavy
rain;
IMD
issues
yellow
alert
for
Mumbai

Special
Relief
Commissioner
(SRC)
PK
Jena
said
more
water
is
entering
the
Hirakud
reservoir
due
to
heavy
rainfall
in
the
upper
catchment
areas
in
Chhattisgarh.

The
situation
has
deteriorated
with
the
Tel
river
discharging
over
three
lakh
cusecs
into
the
Mahanadi
river
instead
of
the
expected
1.5
lakh
cusecs,
he
said.

“We
need
to
close
eight
gates
of
the
Hirakud
Dam
in
order
to
regulate
the
flood
within
medium
range.
Water
is
being
discharged
through
26
gates
instead
of
the
34
gates
on
Sunday,”
Mr
Jena
told
reporters
on
Monday.

At
6
pm
on
Monday,
10.41
lakh
cusecs
of
water
was
flowing
through
the
barrage
and
the
volume
is
likely
to
increase
further.

The
state
government
is
trying
to
keep
the
flood
water
volume
within
10.5
lakh
cusecs
near
Cuttack,
and
therefore
there
is
no
alternative
but
to
close
eight
gates,
the
SRC
said.

In
view
of
the
impending
flood,
the
authorities
have
asked
collectors
of
districts
concerned
and
engineers
of
the
water
resources
department
to
be
on
alert
and
monitor
the
situation.
Special
instructions
have
been
issued
to
officials
of
Cuttack,
Jagatsinghpur,
Kendrapara
and
Puri
districts
to
remain
prepared
for
any
eventuality.

Though
no
major
river
embankments
have
been
breached,
incessant
rain
has
already
inundated
several
areas
in
Sambalpur,
Bargarh,
Subarnapur,
Boudh,
Kandhamal
and
Cuttack
districts,
officials
said.

Jena
added
that
the
Odisha
government
has
increased
the
number
of
rescue
teams
to
32
from
22
and
the
National
Disaster
Relief
Force,
Odisha
Disaster
Rapid
Action
Force
and
fire
service
personnel
have
been
mobilised
in
vulnerable
areas.

The
meteorological
department
in
its
latest
bulletin
said
extremely
heavy
rain
of
over
204
mm
pounded
parts
of
Kalahandi,
Kandhamal,
Koraput,
Nabarangpur
and
Sambalpur
till
8.30
am
on
Monday.