10 Odisha districts on flood alert as Hirakud Dam keeps 22 gates open

Ten Odisha districts downstream of the Mahanadi river were put on high alert on Saturday, 1 August as the Hirakud Dam continued discharging water through 22 gates, inundating low-lying areas, officials said.

More than 8.34 lakh people in 20 districts have been affected by the floods, with civic infrastructure and farmland damaged. Flooding caused by overflowing Salangi, Brahmani, Baitarani, Jalaka and Budhabalang rivers has also damaged more than 1,300 houses in northern Odisha, with Bhadrak the worst affected, followed by Jajpur, Balasore and Mayurbhanj.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas along with Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari and senior officials.

The high-alert districts in the Mahanadi basin include Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Angul, Boudh, Sambalpur, Subarnapur and Nayagarh. Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapada have been identified as particularly vulnerable due to their location in the Mahanadi delta.

The water level at Hirakud Dam stood at 625.47 feet against its full capacity of 630 feet. Inflow into the reservoir was around 4.15 lakh cusecs, while the average outflow was 3,89,603 cusecs, officials said.

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Pujari said the situation could improve as there had been no rain for the past two days and water discharge from the dam appeared to have stabilised.

The water level at the Mundali barrage near Cuttack has also fallen to around 7 lakh cusecs from 8.88 lakh cusecs on Thursday night, officials said.