With parts of Chhattisgarh receiving heavy rainfall for more than a week, the water level of rivers has started rising steadily, especially that of the lifeline Mahanadi.
This has led to a risk of floods in areas near the river in Janjgir-Champa and Raigarh districts.
Keeping in view the prevailing situation on Tuesday, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel called the Janjgir-Champa and Raigarh Collectors to issue flood alerts for villages located near the rivers, especially near the Mahanadi, an official communication said.
He also asked the district administrations to take remedial measures in villages which will be impacted by floods. The authorities have started to shift villagers to safer places from low-lying areas.
About 9,00,000 cusecs of water are being released from the Hirakud dam, about 15 km from Sambalpur in Odisha and built across the Mahanadi.
So far, about 4,50,000 cusecs of water have been released from Hirakud dam, which is almost half of its capacity. Heavy rains are seen in the Mahanadi delta region of Odisha.
The irrigation dams and reservoirs in Raipur, Durg and Bastar divisions are full. The water is also being released from these, pushing up the water level of Mahanadi.
Nearly 52,000 cusecs of water are being released per second from Ravi Shankar reservoir (Gangrel) in Dhamtari district, 5,000 cusecs from Sondur dam and 13,400 cusecs from Sikaser.
A total of 70,400 cusecs of water have been released into the Mahanadi. Similarly, a total of 70,000 cusecs of water was released into the Shivnath river.
Raigarh district administration as precautionary measures have shut schools till August 18 in flood affected areas under Pusaur and Baramkela development blocks.
Chhattisgarh has received an average rainfall of 904.1 mm from June 1 to August 16. The highest rainfall of 1,906.1 mm was recorded in Bijapur district while Surguja district saw the lowest average rainfall of 362.3 mm.