Bhubaneswar: Even though the IMD has issued no warning for heavy rainfall in Odisha till August 31, Odisha Water Resources (OWR) Engineer-In-Chief Jyotirmaya Rath has informed Friday that a moderate to severe scale flood is likely to occur in Mahanadi river basin.
Rath said that due to heavy rainfall in Chhattisgarh, the originating place of the Mahanadi, the water level in the river has been increasing.
Following the increased water level in the upper catchment the Hirakud Dam has opened 28 gates Friday and will open eight more gates later.
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“If the water flow is above 10 lakh cusec per second, it is termed as moderate to severe flood. It is likely to have an impact on Cuttack, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts,” added Rath.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradeep Jena Thursday issued flood warnings for riverside areas of rivers Mahandi, Brhamani and Subarnarekha.
Though the flood waters from the aforementioned rivers have not overflowed, the River Subarnarekha was flowing above the danger mark at Jamshola Ghat and Rajghat in Mayurbhanj. Meanwhile, Budhabalanga in Balasore and Bansadhara in Gajapati district were also reported to be in spate after low pressure induced rainfall in Odisha.
PNN