Sambalpur: Heavy rain in upper reaches of Mahanadi has caused water level to swell at Hirakud reservoir in Sambalpur. The dam authorities opened 20 sluice gates Sunday, triggering flood fears in the downstream area, a report said.
Communication to various areas has been disrupted at many places in Sambalpur even as heavy rain continued to lash Chhattisgarh, the upper end of the river.
According to the dam authorities, 3 lakh cusecs of water was gushing into the dam. By 6 pm, the water level in the dam was 625.58 ft.
This has become a cause of concern for people living in downstream areas and the dam authorities.
The water resources officials held talks with their counterparts in Chhattisgarh about water management.
If the dam receives heavy influx of water, the authorities will be forced to open more gates in coming days. The flood situation will be grim in the downstream. Another problem is that it will create water-logging in some areas when water of various rivers will not be able to drain out into Mahanadi.
Meanwhile, the district administration has braced up to deal with the situation.
The dam is capable to retain water up to a height of 630 ft. If all the gates of Hirakud were opened, 15 lakh cusecs of water will be released.
However, the dam authorities denied any threat to the dam.
As per the report, the upper reaches of the Mahanadi have received 48.05 mm rain while the downstream areas have received 33.16 mm rain.
PNN