With the water level in the Hirakud Dam reservoir getting close to its maximum level of 630 feet, the dam authorities are in extraordinary alert to prevent floods downstream.
The incessant rains have posed a threat to the reservoir as it can’t hold water beyond this point. So, the authorities have been compelled to open 28 sluice gates with an average outflow of 4.87 lakh cusecs of water to bring down the level as far as possible even as a forecast of another low pressure and further rains add to their worries. “The situation is not that much serious now as the coming low pressure will not be as active as the present one. At the same time, the flow of water downstream is under control now,” said Hirakud Dam Project Chief Engineer Anand Chandra Sahu. “We will do our best to control the floods and maintain the water level as per capacity,” he said, adding that the inflow from upstream is decreasing gradually which is good news.“Now, we have kept the inflow and outflow almost the same and there is sufficient space for more water to preserve,” Sahu informed and hoped that there would be no major flood threat.