The State Government on Sunday asked the Collectors of several districts to be on alert in view of a medium-scale flood in the Mahanadi system and directed officials to carry out necessary evacuation and rehabilitation measures if required.
After reviewing the situation arising out of incessant rains in Chhattisgarh and low pressure-induced rainfall in the past two days in Odisha, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said peak floodwaters would pass through the Mundali barrage by Monday.
A medium flood of the range of the one which occurred in August 2019 is expected in the Mahanadi. “Mahanadi basin will witness the peak flood when the water released from the Hirakud Dam reaches Mundali tomorrow. Around 10 lakh to 10.50 lakh cusecs of floodwaters are likely to pass through Mundali,” said Jena.
He informed that though it was earlier decided to open around 40 sluice gates of the Hirakud Dam, it has now been decided to go for entire management by releasing excess water through 34 gates.
Water Resources Department engineers have been put on alert, especially in Khordha, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Nayagarh and Cuttack districts, in view of the flood situation to monitor river embankments. The SRC said that already seven teams of ODRAF, three of NDRF and 12 teams of Fire Service have been kept in readiness in these districts.
Floodwaters entered into low-lying areas of Cuttack district, especially those situated near the banks of the Mahanadi like Baramba. Thousands of farmlands in the region have been inundated. Floodwaters also submerged the famous Bhattarika Temple in Baramba.
Bargarh district also witnessed a flood situation due to backwaters from the Hirakud Dam. Floodwaters entered into Chikhili, Antaradi, Ghughurapalli, Barangkota and Beniapalli villages in Ambabhona block.
In Subarnapur district, the bridge connecting Sonepur with Sambalpur at Malatijor was submerged, disrupting communications.
In Boudh district, as many as 55 villages in Harbhanga tehsil were cut off from the rest of the world due to floodwaters. Rainwaters inundated the Sadalganda-Bhejigora bridge.