Bhubaneswar: With the water level rising in the Hirakud dam following incessant rain in the upper catchment area, authorities of the reservoir in Odisha’s Sambalpur opened four more sluice gates on Tuesday to release excess floodwater. Currently, eight sluice gates have been opened in the left spillway and four sluice gates in the right spillway, taking the total to 12.
The water level in the reservoir stood at 614.04 cubic feet at 9.00 am on Tuesday against the dam’s water holding capacity of 630 cubic feet. The current inflow of water into the dam is 1,50,799 cusecs, while the outflow is 1,58,825 cusecs.
The season’s first floodwater was released from the Hirakud dam through five gates on Sunday. Three more gates were opened on Monday following an increase in rainfall in the upper catchment and a rise in the water level in the reservoir.
According to the Upper Mahanadi Basin chief engineer Ananda Chandra Sahoo, the target was to maintain the water level at 605 feet by July 31.
