More gates of Hirakud Dam opened to release excess water

The Hirakud Dam authorities on Monday opened more gates to release excess water from the reservoir even as the state government asked the collectors of Keonjhar and Jajpur districts to take all steps in view of the Baitarani river crossing the danger level.

In view of rainfall in the upper catchment areas of the Mahanadi river, the Hirakud Dam authorities on Monday opened seven more gates taking the total number of gates opened to 14, an official statement said.

The move was taken to maintain the water level in the reservoir between 619 feet and 620 ft against the full storage capacity of 630 ft.

 

The water level in Hirakud dam stood at 620.45 feet at 6 pm, while inflow in the reservoir was 1,54,337 cusec and outflow 2,37,186 cusec, it said.

Water discharge at Khairmal stood at 2,46,000 cusec, while it was 1,89,875 cusec at Barmul and 2,40,000 cusec at Munduli in Cuttack, it said

Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi in a message to the district collectors of Keonjhar and Jajpur told them to assess the situation in view of the Baitarani river water level crossing danger level and take all required steps.

Necessary steps including evacuation of people in low-lying areas, if necessary, may be undertaken as the water level of river Baitarani at Akhuapada touched 17.87 metre at 6 pm, above the danger level of 17.83 metre, he said.

As per indications, the water level in the river may soon reach 18 metre, he said.

The SRC asked the district administrations to ensure that the evacuated people are properly sheltered and cooked food, safe drinking water and health facilities are made available to them.

Following heavy rain in the upper catchment area, the water level of Baitarani river has been rising since Sunday, while some other rivers including Jalaka were also swelling. The water level of Jalaka river rose to 6.46 metre as against the danger level of 5.5 metre, submerging several low-lying areas in Balasore district, officials said.

Similarly, the water level of Subarnarekha river touched the danger level of 49.30 metre at Jamsolaghat, while the water level in Mahanadi river has dropped to 24.36 metre at Naraj in Cuttack, much below the danger mark of 26.41 metre, the SRC office said.