Bhubaneswar: There is no flood threat in Odisha at present, but the Water Resources Department is closely monitoring the rising inflow into the Hirakud Dam and the water flow in the Mahanadi river system, Engineer-in-Chief Dillip Kumar Rout said on Tuesday.
The water level of Hirakud Dam stood at 606.12 feet on Tuesday, around 3 to 4 feet lower than the level recorded during the same period last year. The reservoir currently has around 26% water storage, Rout said while briefing the media.
“Currently, around 1.8 lakh cusecs of water is entering Hirakud from the upper catchment areas. The inflow is gradually increasing and is expected to reach around 2.5 lakh cusecs by tomorrow, mainly due to rainfall in the upper catchment areas of Chhattisgarh,” he said.
Rout said the rising inflow could lead to an increase in the reservoir level. The department had earlier decided to release water from Hirakud Dam on July 9, but the final decision will be taken after a review meeting.
“We are considering opening two to three gates of Hirakud Dam. The decision will be taken after assessing the inflow and the overall situation,” he said.
Regarding the water flow at the Mundali barrage, the Engineer-in-Chief said around 3.26 lakh cusecs of water was currently passing through the point. The flow is expected to rise to around 4.5 lakh cusecs by midnight or Wednesday morning.
“Since the water flow is likely to remain below 5 lakh cusecs, there is no flood situation at present,” Rout said.
Meanwhile, the water level at Akhuapada remains below the warning level and was recorded at 17.33 feet, he added.
The department is continuing to monitor rainfall, reservoir levels and river flows across the state to assess the situation.
