Bhubaneswar: Odisha govt on Friday put the collectors of Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapada districts on alert after 22 gates of the Hirakud reservoir were opened with water levels in the Mahanadi expected to rise at Naraj and Mundali in Cuttack district.Hirakud authorities opened the gates in three phases by Friday evening following heavy inflow from the upper catchment areas. The Mahanadi was flowing above the danger level at Naraj at 3 pm, while the water level at Hirakud stood at 625.25 ft in the evening against its full reservoir level of 630 ft.Revenue minister Suresh Pujari said the situation is likely to improve after a day. He said the release of water from Hirakud is not likely to aggravate the flood situation downstream. “The current heavy flow at Mundali is caused by heavy rain and is expected to come down by the time the reservoir water reaches there,” Pujari said.The minister said the absence of rainfall in Odisha and the upper catchment areas over the past 24 hours had brought some relief, though the state is keeping an eye on the Mahanadi river system. Pujari said 8.36 lakh people across 15 districts have been affected by the floods.Dillip Kumar Rout, engineer-in-chief of the water resources department, said discharge from Hirakud would increase to around 3.5 lakh cusecs. He said seven embankment breaches had been reported so far but no breach is in the Mahanadi river system. Repairs to the damaged embankments would be taken up after floodwaters recede.CM Mohan Charan Majhi will conduct an aerial survey of flood-affected districts, including Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur and Keonjhar, on Saturday. Floodwaters from the swollen Devi and Kushabhadra rivers have started inundating villages in Jagatsinghpur district, while the situation in north Odisha has shown signs of improvement as major rivers in the region continue to recede.Although rain has stopped and water levels in major rivers in Bhadrak and Balasore districts have declined, road communication to several villages remained disrupted. In Jajpur district, the flood situation is yet to improve, with several villages inundated following seven breaches in embankments of the Brahmani, Kani and a distributary of the Kharasrota river.Floodwater has entered some villages in Banki and Tigiria areas of Cuttack district after the Mahanadi swelled. Nimapada, Kanas and Kakatpur blocks in Puri district have also started receiving floodwater due to the rising level of the Devi river.Jyoshna Pradhan, a resident of Kanas in Puri district, said floodwater had entered low-lying areas of her village. “The water level is increasing slowly. We fear floodwater may cut off communication between our village and the main road by Saturday morning,” she said.The IMD said light to moderate rain was likely at a few places on Saturday. A yellow warning for thunderstorm activity has been issued for some districts. Heavy rain is likely at isolated places in Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts on Sunday, along with thunderstorms. Baripada recorded the highest rainfall of 84.8 mm in the 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Friday.
