Flood situation in Orissa's
coastal district areas continued to be grim on Wednesday even as the
state government got down to do a delicate balancing act by
releasing water in the Mahanadi system from Hirakud reservoir.
Luna, Chitrotpala and Paika which form a network of
rivers in the thickly populated coastal districts are still
flowing above danger levels while vast areas remain submerged
following minor breaches and seepages.
The death toll in the heavy rains and floods has risen to
19 with two casualities reported from Jagatsinghpur and one
from Kendrapara, official sources said.
The inflow into the Hirakud dam reservoir from
Chhatisgarh had increased to over 5.17 lakh cusecs during the
day. The dam was discharging over 1.69 lakh cusecs of flood
water into the Mahanadi river at present which would have to
be stepped up if the inflow increased.
The dam level, which was 614 feet on Tuesday, had climbed
to 621 feet against a maximum reservoir level of 630 feet.
As most of the rivers in the Mahanadi system in the
coastal reaches were in spate and some were flowing above the
danger level, controlled discharge from Hirakud had become the
urgent need, revenue minister Biswabhushan Harichandan said.
On the whole, however, the situation was fully under
control, he told reporters.
Harichandan said the dam authorities had been directed to
release water in a manner so that at no time the discharge at
the Naraj delta head in Cuttack district exceeded eight lakh
cusecs.
The break-up of deaths from the districts are Koraput-5,
Nayagarh and Puri-4 each, Balangir, Kalahandi and Nawarangpur
-three each, Jagatsinghpur-two and Kendrapara and Cuttack-one
each.
Providing details of the damage caused by the heavy rain
and the consequent floods, Harichandan said a population of
over 25 lakh had been affected in ten districts.
Harichandan said the discharge at the Naraj Delta head
today had fallen to 7.26 lakh cusecs from the previous 9.50
lakh cusecs but some of the rivers in the system were still
flowing above the red mark in the lower reaches.
The Luna was flowing above the danger mark at Danpur,
Marshaghai and Basupur while the Chitrotpala was much above
the red mark at Patkura in Kendrapara district.
However, the Devi, a branch of Mahanadi, was still
flowing at 57 feet-- the danger level---at Daleighai, a
vulnerable and vital protection embankment in Jagatsinghpur
district, while it had fallen below the red mark at Alipingal.
Asked if he apprehended a bigger flood, Harichadan said
it would be difficult to predict.
The chief secretary, D P Bagchi had talked to his
counterpart in Chhatisgarh who assured not to release more
water in the Mahanadi from dams in the neighbouring state, he
said.
Three other major rivers, Subarnarekha, Baitarani and
Budhabalanga were also maintaining a rising trend, he said.
The revenue secretary, Srinivas Rath said the centre had
sought information about the damages caused by floods and
sheavy rain in the state.
