Hirakud dam opens 6 gates

Sambalpur: Hirakud dam authorities again opened six sluice gates to discharge excess floodwaters from the reservoir, Thursday. The move was necessitated after water level increased in the dam following incessant rainfall on the upstream of the dam. As part of this move, four gates on the left of the dam and two on the right were opened Thursday afternoon. The water level of the Hirakud dam stood at 613.33 feet Thursday. Over 98,905 cusec floodwater was entering into the reservoir per second while 1,32,043 cusec was being discharged by the dam by Thursday evening. All the six sluice gates were found discharging 94,530 cusec, 34,110 cusec into the power channel for power production, 2,658 cusec into the Bargarh canal, 400 cusec into the Sasan canal, 61 cusec into Sambalpur canal and seven cusec water into the Hirakud canal.