Odisha apprehends medium flood in Mahanadi system Thursday

The Odisha government has alerted the districts in the Mahanadi delta area as it apprehends a "medium" flood in the river system following heavy rains for three consecutive days in the state due to a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal, an official said on Thursday.

The administration has estimated that 9.5 lakh cusec of water will flow at Mundali near Cuttack by Thursday evening, up from 8.28 lakh cusec at about 12 noon, water resources department chief engineer Bhakta Ranjan Mohanty told reporters.

Thursday night is crucial for Cuttack, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Puri districts located in the Mahandi delta area, he said.

The state special relief commissioner Satyabrata Sahu has meanwhile alerted the collectors of these districts along with those of Angul and Nayagarh to take precautionary measures and guard weak embankments. He has also rushed NDRF, ODRAF and fire services teams in 15 districts for rescue operations.

“We are anticipating a small to medium range flood in Mahanadi river system as the upper catchment areas near Barmul have received a huge amount of water. By 12 noon of Thursday around 8.28 lakh cusec water was flowing and it has been on a rising trend. We expect the volume of flow will increase to 9.5 lakh cusec by evening.

“The flood water is likely to reach the districts of Kendrapara, Jagastinghpur and Puri by Friday morning,” Mohanty said.

As many as 3,000 people have so far been evacuated to safer places. More people will be shifted from low-lying areas in the districts of the delta region.

The SRC has asked the districts' authorities and the water resources department to ensure 24×7 patrolling of vulnerable river embankments with the support of the local police, officials said.

The authorities have asked the people not to visit certain temples in Badamba area in Cuttack district and have clamped Section 144 Cr PC at Singhanatha Temple and Maa Bhattarika Pitha in view of heavy flow of water in Mahanadi river.

Water resources department officials said the water level is also rising in rivers across Odisha, other than Mahanadi due to the incessant rains during the past two days..

Baitarani, Bansadhara, Nagabali and Jalaka rivers have crossed their danger marks at several places. Salandi river is swelling, while Baitarani is flowing at 19.88m against the danger level of 17.83 at Akhuapada in Bhadrak district, they said.

In Jajpur district, Baitarani’s tributary Budha river has also been flowing much above the danger mark leading to inundation of some low-lying villages of two blocks. Bhandaripokhari has been completely cut-off from Jajpur, about 20 km away, as flood waters have inundated the road, they said.

Batarani river is flowing above the danger mark at Anandpur in Keonjhar district, as is Bansadhara near Kashinagar, creating a flood-like situation in the area, they said.

The SRC has rushed eight National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 13 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and 23 fire services teams to Bhadrak, Jajpur, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Angul, Sonepur, Boudh, Kandhamal, Balasore, Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapada districts for rescue operations.

Officials said another 62 fire and emergency services teams with boats have also been deployed in Kendrapara (10), Cuttack Sadar (10), Athagarh (8), Jagatsinghpur (9), Khurda (5), Nayagarh (8) and Puri (12) to assist the district administrations.

The local met office said that Odisha has received an average of 38 mm of rainfall during the last 24 hours. The state average rainfall recorded from August 1 to August 3 was 147.5 mm against the August monthly average of 356 mm. Kutra block of Sundergarh district received the highest rainfall recorded in of 195.4 mm in last 24 hours.

The local weather office sources said that the volume of rainfall is likely to decline by evening of Thursday as the deep depression weakens into a low pressure and moves away from the state.