Odisha: Hirakud Dam opens 8 more sluice gates, flood water being released through 22 gates

Sambalpur: Due to continuous rain in the upper catchment area, eight more gates of Hirakud Dam have been opened on Friday.

Taking into account the rising water level at the reservoir due and due to heavy rain expected in the upper catchment area. The Hirakud dam authorities opened eight more sluice gates on Friday to release the flood waters. Presently, the flood water is being released from a total of 20 sluice gates.

On Thursday, the Hirakud dam released this season’s floodwater into Mahanadi river through 14 sluice gates.  The people in the low lying areas have been warned not to venture into the river bed.

Odisha continues to experience heavy rainfall in several areas. The active low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal continues to cause very heavy rainfall in areas across Western and Southern Odisha.

The intensity of rainfall is likely to decrease from today. Further, rainfall in Odisha is likely to increase once again from September 18.

21 blocks of ten districts have been impacted greatly by the heavy rains. These districts include Koraput, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Nabarangapur, and five other districts. As many as eight blocks of Koraput and six blocks of Kalahandi have faced a lot of damage due to heavy rains. A total of 155 villages across the 21 blocks have been severely impacted due to heavy rains.

Reportedly, 152 houses have been damaged while three people have been reported dead. Several low lying areas across the state are experiencing flood like situations due to the continuous heavy rainfall.

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