Coastal Odisha heaved sigh of relief as the Water Resource Department ruled out major flood in the wake of decrease in the water level in the Mahanadi.
“The level was on receding trend. Initially it was predicted that a small or medium level flood would hit the coastal districts. Now, it has been ruled out. Localised submergence has been reported from some places. There will be no major flood from the river,” said Dhiren Samal, Engineer-in-Chief on September 18.
Due to heavy rain in Chhattisgarh this week, it was apprehended that the overflowing Mahanadi could cause a flood in Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and Puri districts.
Closure mode at Hirakud reservoir
Mr. Samal said, “The situation has improved significantly as was projected. We are approaching closure mode at the Hirakud reservoir due to decrease in the inflow from the upper catchment. Apparently, there is little chance of flood water entering the Mahanadi river system.”
At Naraj, which is considered the delta head in the State, the Mahanadi was flowing between 25.95 metres and 25.97 metres which was below the danger level — 26.41 metres. Official sources said it would gradually recede.
At Mundali, 6.76 lakh cusecs was getting discharged towards the coast and the trend had been continuing since September 17 night.
“Similarly, the Brahmani river system did not receive much rain in its upper catchment. The level at Panposh was in the downward trend. Since the level had risen above the full reservoir level, some gates were kept open at Rengali to normalise the situation,” he pointed out.
The Water Resource Department said no river was flowing above the danger level in Kendrapara district bringing a sense of relief to the people.
68 mm rainfall
The State on September 18 received an average 3.9 mm rainfall. Except Gajapati, none of the districts had recorded rainfall above two digits. While the Gumma block in Gajapati received 68 mm rainfall, the Khordha block received 62 mm. Beganati block in Mayurbhanj district had precipitation of 57 mm.
The Special Relief Commissioner warned that heavy rainfall is very likely to occur at one or two places in Mayurbhanj, Balasore and Bhadrak districts on September 19.
