The Hirakud Dam authorities released the season’s first flood water from the reservoir here at around 12 noon on Tuesday.
After performing a ceremonial puja at the dam’s site, the authorities opened one sluice gate to discharge the water and subsequently opened four more gates.
Around 3 lakh cusecs of water will be released into the Mahandi River from the reservoir, sources said.
The water level in the reservoir had reached to about 617.60 feet at 6 AM today while the dam has a capacity of holding water upto 630 feet, informed Hirakud Chief Engineer Jyotirmaya Rath.
“The inflow of water into the reservoir is 1.50 lakh cusecs while the outflow is 11, 846 cusecs. The water from Hirakud will take around 36 hours to reach Mundali in Cuttack,” Rath said.
Meanwhile, the dam authorities alerted Collectors of all districts located on the banks of Mahanadi. The villagers in low lying areas of the reservoir have been alerted about a possible flood like situation.
The authorities also warned the local residents for not to venture into Mahandi River today.
