Bhubaneswar: Hirakud dam is all set to release the first flood water of the season into the Mahanadi system by opening four sluice gates at 11 am on Thursday. “This was finalised at a high-level meeting,” said engineer-in-chief of water resources department, Dilip Kumar Rout, on Wednesday.Rout said the flood water would pass smoothly and hardly create any trouble or flooding in downstream areas owing to the planned release. He added that heavy water outflow at Munduli barrage in Mahanadi, caused by heavy rainfall in dam’s downstream, decreased gradually and stood at 4.43 lakh cusec during the day.“This was recorded after outflow at Munduli barrage touched 5.54 lakh cusec last night,” he pointed out.The engineer-in-chief said with gradual decrease in current water outflow at Munduli barrage, fresh release of flood water from the dam would pass smoothly in Mahanadi downstream.According to Rout, with each sluice gate having capacity to release 15 thousand cusec water, they have a preliminary target to release one lakh cusec water from the reservoir.The water level of Hirakud dam stood at 611.23 feet during the day, with inflow of 2.62 lakh cusecs.He said they would bring down the current level of 611 feet slightly, so that they can accommodate the water coming from subsequent spells. “We usually receive about eight to 10 spells of monsoon low-pressure rainfall. We are planning and scheduling accordingly,” Rout added.The engineer-in-chief said a high-level meeting on flood management in the Mahanadi basin was held at Hirakud under the chairmanship of the Central Water Commission. The flood crisis management team reviewed the reservoir’s operation during the monsoon. Senior engineers from the govts of Odisha and Chhattisgarh took part in the meeting to discuss management of the dam during the rainy season.
