Odisha to witness low to medium range flood in Mahanadi river system- SRC

Bhubaneswar : Odisha Special Relief Commissioner P K Jena today predicted a low to medium range flood the downstream of Mahanadi river system in the state.
Mr Jena said as per the latest reports 12 gates of the Hirakud reservoir have been opened and if needed some more gates would be opened.
While six gates were opened last evening, another six gates were opened this morning after heavy rain was reported in the upper catchment area of the reservoir in Chhattisgarh.
The Hirakud reservoir has now 628.23 feet of water against its storage capacity of 630 feet.
While 2.98 lakh cusecs of water are entering the reservoir 2.25 lakh cusecs of water are being discharged every second and heavy rain is continuing in Chhattisgarh.
The Secretary and Chief Engineer of the Water Resources department, and the Chief Engineer of the Hirakud dam have decided to keep the water level of the Hirakud reservoir at around 628 feet and to open more gates if needed.
The SRC said even if five to seven more gates were opened, the discharge of water at Munduli would be around seven lakh cusecs which would not create any serious flood situation.
Mr Jena said the water level of Baitarani, which was flowing above danger level near Akhuapada, started falling and it is expected to further recede by this evening.
Budhabalanga Subarnarekha rivers were flowing below the danger level and there is no chance of any flood.
He said three breaches were reported in river Brahmani —one at Bandhadihi under Rasulgarh block of Jabalpur district and two at Matiapada in Bari block of Jaipur district. One breach was also reported in the Tangi block of Khordha districts.
Though a vast tract of agricultural land was submerged due to the breaches there were no reports of any loss of life. The damage would be known only after an inquiry, Mr Jena said.
The rainfall, he said, has receded since yesterday. However, the Bhograi block of Balasore district recorded 122 MM rainfall, Ghatgaon in Keonjhar 125 MM, Kakatpur 107 MM, Subdega in Sundergarh 118 MM and Sundergarh 116 MM of rainfall yesterday.
As many as 23 blocks in eight districts reported 50 to 100 MM of rainfall during the last 24 hours.
A large area has been waterlogged due to heavy rains triggered by a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal. As many as 193 roads of PWD, Panchayati raj and Rural development were affected.
As per preliminary reports received from four districts, four human casualties have been reported — two in kendrapara, due to wall collapse, one in Khordha district due to drowning, one in Ganjam due to wall collapse.
In addition to its reports of two persons, one in Nischintakoili block of Cuttack district and another in Puintala of Bolangir districts have been received and details would be known after inquiry.
Special Relief Commission Office sources said around 21 lakh people in 126 blocks,29 ULBs of 21 districts are affected by the rain.
As many as 14,000 people were evacuated from low lying areas to safer places,3839 houses were damaged in the rain and 1.30 lakh hectares of agricultural land were submerged.
All the affected people were provided dry and cooked food and most of them have returned to their homes after the situation improved.
Mr Jena said all district collectors were asked to submit the damage assessment report latest by September 22 next adding that details of the loss would be known only after the reports were received.