The Hirakud Dam on Monday released the season’s first floodwaters to the Mahanadi on Monday. Five sluice gates were opened to discharge the waters in the first phase The dam authorities had recently decided to release the excess floodwater following steady rise in the water level of the reservoir in the wake of incessant rainfall in the catchment area of the dam.
Currently, the water level of the reservoir stands at 613.08 feet while the dam's maximum storage capacity is 630 feet. The inflow and outflow at the reservoir stand at 1,35,141 cusecs and 39,348 cusecs respectively.
The dam Chief Engineer Anand Chandra Sahu said, “The inflow of above 2 lakh cusecs at the upper end of the dam is gradually decreasing and at present the same at the reservoir stands at 1,07,000 cusecs. In order to adjust the inflow, we decided to open five gates.’
Since there is a high possibility of sudden increase in the water-level of Mahanadi and its other distributaries after the floodwater discharge, the dam authorities have sounded an alert for the people living in the low-lying areas.
Sambalpur district Collector Ananya Das said, “The present situation is not so serious and doesn’t need evacuation. The exercise is only to maintain the water-level. However, the nearby areas have been identified and put on alert.”