With the water level in Mahanadi river rising after release of flood water from Hirakud Dam, Odisha government today geared up and closely monitored the situation to deal with any possible flood in 11 districts in the river basin, officials said.
Around 6.5 lakh cusec of water is now flowing through Mundali gauge station in Mahanadi near Cuttack after release of flood waters through 25 gates of Hirakud dam, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi said.
This has led to steady rise in the water level of Mahanadi as well as its tributaries in several areas, he said.
The dam authorities had on Tuesday opened 25 sluice gates following release of huge volumes of water in the river from neighbouring Chhattishgarh.
There is, however, no threat of any major flood despite the release of water from Hirakud and the situation is being monitored constantly, Sethi said.
We are maintaining a close watch on the situation. It is being monitored round-the-clock," he said adding that the collectors of the 11 districts located in the Mahanadi river basin and other officials are keeping watch.
All preparations have been made. The state government has deployed rescue teams in the vulnerable areas and has already deployed the ODRAF, NDRF and fire service personnel for immediate rescue operation in Puri, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack and Bhadrak districts, Sethi said.
Meanwhile, the flood water of Mahanadi and Tel rivers have inundated several areas in Boudh district where a number of villages in Harabhanga block have been marooned and vast agricultural lands submerged, said an official.
The water level in Mahanadi river at Naraj near Cuttack has risen to 25.87 metre but it is much below the danger level of 26.41 metre, he said.
With the flood waters submerging several areas, road connectivity is affected in some places like Birmaharajpur in Sonepur and Purunamantri under Athamalik tehsil, officials said.
Several villages in Athagarh and Banki areas of Cuttack district have also been inundated after flood water of Mahanadi gushed into low-lying areas, they said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who took stock of the situation yesterday, has asked the administration to remain alert to deal with the situation.
The district collectors have been asked to ensure that there is enough stock of food materials, besides water, medicines and other essential items.
Instruction was also issued to evacuate people from the low-lying areas as flood water could enter into villages tonight or tomorrow morning, an official said.
The average rainfall in the state recorded during the past 24 hours was 2.7 mm. In all 28 districts have received sporadic rainfall, the highest being 18.8 mm in Kalahandi district. There was no rainfall during the past 24 hours in the Bhadrak and Deogarh districts, the IMD said.
Two blocks in Kalahandi district have recorded rainfall of more than 50 mm. The highest rainfall of 59.4 mm has been received in Kalampur block and 55.0 mm in Dharmagarh block.
The Met centre here said rain and thundershower is likely to occur at many places over the state till tomorrow, while heavy rainfall may lash one or two places in Bargarh, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Deogarh, Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts.
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