Heavy rain triggers floods in Odisha; Hirakud Dam opens 16 gates

Odisha began evacuating people from low-lying areas as heavy rain caused rivers to swell across the state. Flash floods were reported in nine districts, while the Hirakud Dam opened 16 gates to release excess water into the Mahanadi

Bhubaneswar/Balasore: The Odisha government on Saturday started shifting people in low-lying areas to safety as rivers across the state swelled following heavy rainfall over the past few days. The Hirakud Dam has opened 16 gates to release excess water into the Mahanadi, officials said.

Flash floods have been reported in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Keonjhar and Jagatsinghpur districts.

---

In Balasore alone, 14,660 people in 91 villages were affected as rivers flowing in spate inundated vast swathes of land. An official said 3,268 people had been evacuated from these areas.

According to officials at the Water Resources Department, 11 more gates of the Hirakud Dam had to be opened on Saturday to release excess water from the reservoir. A total of 16 sluice gates have been opened, they said.

“We have to open more gates due to heavy rainfall in the upper catchment area of the Mahanadi river in Chhattisgarh. At present, the water level is 629.56 feet against the full reservoir level of 630 feet,” a senior official said, adding that people living on the floodplains and in low-lying areas had been asked to remain alert.

The Jalaka river was flowing at 6.78 metres, against the danger level of 6.5 metres at Mathani in Basta. Known as Balasore’s “sorrow”, the Subarnarekha river was also showing a rising trend, with the water level at Rajghat in Jaleswar reaching 10.35 metres against its danger level of 10.36 metres.

Experts forecast that the water level could reach 11.74 metres on Sunday.

The Budhabalanga river has also crossed its danger level of 8.13 metres at Govindpur NH-16 and is currently flowing at 8.64 metres.

Smaller rivers such as Kansabansa, Soa and Gangahar are also in spate in Balasore, officials said.

In Jajpur, the overflowing Kani river, a branch of the Baitarani river, inundated Tarapada and Kapasi panchayats in Dasarathpur block.

Five gates of the Indravati project on the Hati river in Kalahandi district have been opened, discharging 550 cusecs of water since Thursday night and flooding several blocks.