Sambalpur: The first floodwater of the season was released Friday from the Hirakud reservoir with 10 sluice gates being opened by dam authorities here Friday.
With Hirakud dam’s chief engineer Harman Pradhan switching on Crane-1 at 10.12 am, sluice gate no-7 on the left spillway of the dam was opened to release the stored water into the Mahanadi. Six more gates – Gates 8 to 13 – were opened one by one by 2 pm. Similarly, three more sluice gates of the dam were lifted between 3 and 4.30 pm. About 1.05 lakh cusecs of water were being released every second through 10 gates of the dam till the time of filing this report.
The district collectors of Sambalpur, Surbarnapur and Boudh districts which are located in the downstream of Mahanadi were asked to stay alert. Similarly, the district administration issued an advisory asking people not to venture into Mahanadi during the release of water.
The floodwater would reach Khairamal, Barmal and Mundali after 15, 30 and 45 hours respectively, chief engineer Pradhan said. The water level in the dam was 615.89 feet when the gates were opened and 1,55,321 cusec ft of water was entering into the dam, he added.
RDC-northern range Bhaskar Jyoti Sharma, DIG-north Pratik Kumar Mohanty, ADM Yudhisthir Nayak, sub-collector Trilochan Majhi, SMC commissioner Bimalendu Ray, ex-chief engineer of the dam Biswajit Mohanty and several district officials were present on the occasion.
Hundreds of people from all over the state reached the dam to witness the striking sight of floodwater release. Elaborate security arrangements were made in the wake of such huge footfalls. The dry riverbed of Mahanadi swelled up with water within minutes of the gates being opened. Notwithstanding the warning issued by dam authorities, fishermen rushed to the river with their fishing gear. The youths were seen enjoying the high tide in the river.
Chief Engineer Harman Pradhan said the gates were opened following heavy rain in the upper catchment areas of Mahanadi. “I have been involved in this annual exercise for the last 20 years,” he said. The experience was quite thrilling for many visitors who came to the town to witness the release of floodwaters.
“I had only read about Hirakud dam in my school books. It was my childhood dream to watch the release of floodwaters. I will share my unique experience with my friends and will definitely come next year,” Saraswati Bagarti of Subarnapur said.
The lifting of the gates was accompanied by the chanting of hymns and prayers. A devotional singer named Amar Yadav was also roped in to perform on the occasion. “I’ve been coming to Hirakud dam for the last 10 years to perform on the day of floodwater release. It is a great experience and I’m really thankful,” Yadav said. PNN
