Bhubaneswar: Clarifying the doubts of villagers residing in riverside areas, the Odisha government Wednesday said that except River Jalaka in Balasore district, all major rivers across the state are below the flood danger mark.
Engineer-in-Chief of Odisha Water Resources Department Jyotirmay Rath said, “Barring flash flood in the Jalaka, the water level of all major rivers in the state is below the danger mark.”
Sources said that people residing in riverside villages of Odisha were in fear after the Hirakud Dam authorities opened 14 sluice gates to release floodwaters from the reservoir.
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Rath assured the people and urged to not panic as there has been no rainfall in the upper catchments in the last 24 hours so there is no flood situation in the River Mahanadi.
“Our department is ready to tackle any type of flood like situation,” added Rath.
With the formation of a third low pressure over the north Bay of Bengal, the IMD issued a warning for heavy rain in 16 districts of Odisha including Bargarh,Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur,Keonjhar, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Mayurbhanj, Bolangir and Nuapada.
Rath added that they are keeping a close watch on the weak river embankments at 48 places in the state.
PNN