Flood Situation Improves In Balasore

By OB Bureau On Aug 8, 2018

Bhubaneswar: People in Balasore district, where Subararekha and Jalaka rivers were flowing close to the danger mark following heavy rain triggering flood fear, heaved a sigh of relief after the India Meteorological Department on Wednesday predicted light and sporadic rain in the region for the next three days.

Though the Subararekha was flowing near the danger mark at Rajghat, the Central Water Commission (CWC) control room in the district said that the water level had started receding with the authorities of the Galudihi barrage in Jharkhand closing three of the five sluice gates, which were opened on Tuesday, as rain in the upper catchments had subsided.

On the other hand, there has been a dip in the water level of the Jalaka, which was earlier flowing over the danger mark at Mathani, by 9 am on Wednesday. Going by the rate of recession, the Water Resources department said that the water level will go down further later in the day.

However, floodwater of Subarnarekha has entered some villages along the embankment in Basta block.

In Kendrapara district, road connectivity to several villages in Ali block was severed with water overflowing on the roads.

The situation was no different in South Odisha districts following incessant rain. Road communication between Malkangiri and Kalimela was disrupted with rainwater overflowing on a bridge near MV-37 village.

In Sambalpur, the water level of the Hirakud reservoir was recorded 613.87 feet by 6 pm on Tuesday. While the inflow of water into the reservoir was 76,644 cusecs per second, 29,498 cusecs of water per second was being released from one sluice gate of the reservoir.

According to a release by the local meteorological centre, Bhubaneswar, the low-pressure over the north-west Bay of Bengal, which had concentrated into a depression at 10 pm on Tuesday at about 80 km off the Chandbali coast in Balasore district, crossed West Bengal and Odisha coasts at midnight.

Talking to the media, Director of the Centre for Environment and Climate (CEC) and former Director of Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, Dr Sarat Chandra Sahu said there is a possibility of isolated heavy rainfall at one or two places in Sudargarh, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Balasore district in the next 48 hours.

There is a possibility of formation of another low-pressure area over the north-west Bay of Bengal on August 13, he added.

flood rain