Over 2 lakh people have been impacted by the floods in ten districts of Odisha, and the Mahanadi River situation is still dire. According to a senior official, the flood situation in Odisha’s Mahanadi River system was still dire on Tuesday, with more than two lakh people impacted in ten districts. Due to the Mahanadi river’s rapid rise in water level as a result of recent heavy rains in its catchment areas, officials in the state of Odisha are preparing for the possibility of flooding in numerous districts.
According to government authorities, the Mahanadi and its tributaries surged in the districts of Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Deogarh, Bargarh, Angul, Boudh, Subarnapur, Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Cuttack, Kendrapara, and Jagatsinghpur on August 16.
In the coastal Kendrapara and Jajpur districts, the river burst its embankments eight times. The two districts’ low-lying regions have likewise been utterly rendered lifeless by nonstop rain. Heavy rainfall in the higher catchment areas of Chhattisgarh, according to Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena, is causing additional water to enter the Hirakud reservoir.
Instead of the anticipated 1.5 lakh cusecs, the Tel river is now dumping almost three lakh cusecs into the Mahanadi river, which has worsened the situation. To control the flood within a medium range, eight of the Hirakud Dam’s gates must be shut. On Sunday, 26 gates rather than 34 were used to release water, Jena informed reporters on Monday.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena
The water level in the reservoir stood at 626.87 feet at 9 PM while its depth is 630 feet, he said. “The flood situation in the Mahanadi river system is grim. The next 48 to 72 hours are critical for the state. About 12 lakh Cusec (cubic feet per second) flood water is now flowing through Mundali barrage,” Jena said after the chief minister reviewed the situation during the day.
While the Baitarani and Salandi rivers’ water levels are rising, the Bhadrak district has some regions that are under water. A district official said that the water level in Baitarani above the danger line close to Akhuapada and that rice fields in various villages in the Chandbali, Tihidi, Dhamanagar, and Bhandari Pokhari blocks of the district have been flooded.
A few landslide occurrences that resulted in the closure of roads have been recorded in the Mohana block of the Gajapati district. A district official claimed that numerous locations in the Dasarathpur block of the Jajpur district have also been affected by flooding and that residents there are now being relocated to safer regions.
