No flood fear in Odisha as water level receding in many rivers, says official as IMD forecasts more rain

The water level is receding in many rivers in Odisha and there is no fear of a major flood in the state, including in Mahanadi and Subarnarekha rivers, a senior official said on Saturday.

However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast more rain in the next four days, even as Water Resources Department Engineer-in-Chief D K Samal said that rainwater remained accumulated in many villages.

"There is no fear of a major flood in Odisha including in Mahanadi and Subarnarekha river systems. Though it was anticipated that 7 lakh cusecs of water would flow every second at Mundali near Cuttack, it has come down to 6.76 lakh cusecs per second at 6 PM on Saturday. The water would pass without causing much damage," he said.

Samal said that water level has also started receding in Baitarani, Brahmani and Subarnarekha rivers.

Responding to a query about inundation of several villages in Mahanadi and Subarnarekha river basins, he said, "These are rainwater and not floodwater from rivers. Rainwater could not be cleared from many low-lying areas and caused inundation in many places." He said there were minor breaches in some river embankments and those were repaired. Hirakud reservoir authorities closed more sluice gates due to less water inflow into the dam because of decline in rain in upper catchment areas of Mahanadi.

While 28 sluice gates were opened on Friday, only 18 gates are discharging 3.15 lakh cusecs of water now against an inflow of 3.27 lakh cusecs. The water level in Hirakud Dam stands at 628.21 feet at 6 PM, he said.

However, many villages in low-lying areas in Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda and Puri districts remained under water following incessant rain.

A large number of people, including women and children, staged a dharna in outside Kujanga block office demanding cooked food, drinking water and clearing of water from the inundated area. Around 30 villages in the district are under water and its residents evacuated to safer places.

Similarly, residents of Kanas block in Puri district also alleged that the administration has failed to solve their long-standing problem of water-logging caused by a poor drainage system.

However, Puri Collector Samarth Verma claimed that the administration is taking all steps to provide relief to the affected people.

Amid people suffering from water logging and inundation, the IMD forecast heavy rain in many places in the next four days under the influence of a cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal.

It is very likely to move towards the Odisha coast in the next 12 hours, the Regional Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar said in a bulletin.

It forecast that the cyclonic circulation may cause moderate to heavy rainfall in several places till September 22.

The weatherman issued a yellow warning (be updated for heavy rain) for Mayurbhanj, Balasore and Bhadrak districts, and thunderstorm for Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Malkangiri and Koraput till 8.30 AM on Sunday.

It also issued a yellow warning for Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda, Puri, Dhenkanal, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh districts on Sunday.

The special relief commissioner's office also put the district administrations on high-alert based on the IMD’s forecast.