Swollen rivers in Odisha wreaked havoc in the state amid fear of a high flood in Mahanadi river system claiming 27 human lives so far and affecting 10 lakh people as the state government stepped up evacuation and kept two choppers stand by Wednesday.
"The focus is now on Mahanadi river system in view of the rapidly rising water level following release of huge volume from Hirakud reservoir. Water level in other rivers are now falling gradually," Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Mohapatra told reporters here.
Stating that 50 of the 64 sluice gates of Hirakud dam on Mahanadi river have already been opened for discharge of excess water, Water Resources Secretary Suresh Mohapatra said adding that water level in Hirakud reservoir stood at 628.25 ft as against its full capacity of 630 ft.
Water level in Hirakud reservoir witnessed a sudden rise following heavy downpour in upper catchment areas in Chhattisgarh, he said.
While 8,00,300 cusec of water was flowing into Hirakud reservoir, the outflow is around 8,34,000 cusec, he said, adding, over 11.5 lakh cusec water is likely to flow in river Mahanadi at Munduli around midnight tonight against 12 lakh cusec calculated earlier.
As the flood scenario remained grim with Mahanadi and Baitarani rivers flowing above the danger mark, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reviewed the situation and visited the control room at Special Relief Commissioner's office.
"The flood situation is under control at the moment. Officers are working hard to tackle the situation," he said.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to the Chief Minister on phone and assured of all necessary central help in carrying out relief and rescue operations, an official release said, adding, eight additional NDRF teams were also sent by the Centre for assisting in the operation.
The death toll due to floods and heavy rain in different parts of the state mounted to 27, the SRC said, adding, most of the casualties were due to drowning and wall collapse incidents.
Maximum number of 10 deaths were reported in Bargarh district, followed by five in Mayurbhanj, three in Bhadrak, two in Khurda and one each in Balangir, Jajpur, Boudh, Sambalpur, Kandhamal, Koraput and Deogarh districts, he said.
In view of the high flood fear in Mahanadi river system, evacuation of people from low-lying areas and supply of relief materials have been made to deal with the situation, Mohapatra said.
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