Mahanadi swells as Hirakud Dam opens 14 gates, floods affect 7 lakh in Odisha

Heavy rains in the upper catchment area triggered a massive discharge of water from the Hirakud Dam into the Mahanadi river on Friday, July 31, swelling the waterway and affecting seven lakh people across 20 of Odisha's 30 districts, as low-lying areas were inundated.

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, who reviewed the flood situation, said 14 gates of the dam had been opened, discharging more than two lakh cusecs of water due to heavy inflow from the Mahanadi's upper catchment areas in Chhattisgarh. Only two gates had been open earlier.

"The water will take around 36 to 40 hours to reach Mundali near Cuttack," Pujari said.

By Friday morning, the water level in the reservoir stood at 623.52 feet against its full storage capacity of 630 feet, Pujari said. The dam was receiving approximately 3,69,322 cusecs of water per second, while about 65,543 cusecs were being released downstream. He said more than eight lakh cusecs would need to be discharged at Mundali within 36 hours to accommodate the excess water being released from Hirakud.

Pujari noted that no rain had been recorded across the state or in the upper catchment areas over the past 24 hours, calling it "a big respite." He said some areas in Cuttack, Puri, Khurda and Jagatsinghpur districts had been inundated, and that preparations were underway to mitigate the impact on residents.

The minister said the state was operating 520 relief centres across the north and coastal regions, with provisions made for around 2 lakh people. He added that approximately 1.90 lakh people had been evacuated to safety so far.

Special Relief Commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said the floods had affected more than seven lakh people across 20 of the state's 30 districts, and that 136 rescue teams from the NDRF, ODRAF and fire services had been deployed in the affected areas.

Patil said the rise in the Mahanadi's water level had caused several of its tributaries which are  the Luna, Karandia, Chitrotpala, Paika, Salia, Devi, Kandala, Kuakhai, Kushabhadra, Daya and Bhargavi to swell as well. He said three people had died so far in flood-related incidents.

Officials said leaves for all government employees in the 20 affected districts had been cancelled, and public access to barrages and embankments had been restricted. Devotees were barred from visiting the Dhabaleswar Shiv Temple in Cuttack district for 48 hours.

According to the state's Water Resources Department, water levels in the Baitarani, Brahmani, Jalaka and Budhabalanga rivers had receded, though fresh breaches in embankments have inundated new areas.

(With inputs from PTI)