Odisha  Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja reviewed the status of water levels in various river basins and reservoirs

Bhubaneswar30/7/24: Odisha  Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja in a meeting today afternoon reviewed the status of water levels in various river basins and reservoirs including Hirakud, water flow status in various rivers, and the preparedness and precautionary measures of various departments and districts including water resources department due to low pressure-induced rainfall across the state

Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary of Water Resources Anu Garg, Additional Chief Secretary Revenue, Forest, Environment and Climate Change Department and Special Relief Commissioner Satyabrata Sahu, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department Principal Secretary Sushil Kumar Lohani, Health and Family Welfare Department Commissioner-cum-Secretary Shalini Pandit Water Resources Department Chief Engineer Bhakaranjan Mohanty prominently were present in the review meeting.

The District Magistrates of Subarnapur, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh, Puri, and Cuttack attended the meeting through video conferencing and participated in the discussion.

In the meeting, the water storage capacity and current water level status of various large and medium water reservoirs including Hirakud and Rengali reservoirs were reviewed.

Water Resources ACS Smt. Garg said that when the water level rises in various reservoirs during the rainy season, the water is released in the river based on the rule curve followed by the department, information on water inflow at the upper catchments of various river basins, and the capacity of water flow in various rivers.

Now 20 sluice gates out of 98 gates have been opened in Hirakud Reservoir. The discussion of the meeting revealed that the water storage capacity of Hirakud Reservoir is 630.00 feet and now the water level is 614.08 feet. Similarly, the water storage capacity in Rengali is 123.50 meters, while the water level is now 111.32 meters.

The Chief Engineer of Water Resources dept presented the status of water level of various reservoirs and, water flow status in the rivers. The status of water flow in all large and medium reservoirs and rivers has been monitored as a precautionary measure. While yesterday’s water flow in Jalka River was high, now the water flow is below the danger mark. About 4.42 lakh cusecs of water are flowing at Mundali in Mahanadi river today. The inflow of water to the Hirakud and Rengali reservoirs is also low. However, the water level in other reservoirs has increased due to heavy rains, he added.

The Special Relief Commissioner said, “Like every year, natural calamities committee meetings have been held at the state and district levels for possible natural calamities such as floods and cyclones. There are Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for this, based on which potential floods, storms, droughts, etc. are being managed at the state and district levels. Now torrential rain is continuing in various districts.

As a precautionary measure due to the water flow in various rivers, the SRC advised the District Magistrates to be aware, especially those going to see the water flow in the river, not to leave small children on the river bank, not to let cows and cattle in the river, and to refrain from taking selfies at vulnerable points.

Also, the SRC has instructed the Puri District Collector to keep a vigil on the large number of passengers being ferried by boats in Chilika Lake and take necessary action. Officers and employees in the concerned districts have been advised not to take leave given the possible impact of heavy rainfall.

Earlier, the amount of rain for farming in various districts was in a state of deficiency, but now, due to the rains, promising progress has been observed in farming, the district officials said. District officials said that precautionary measures have been taken due to heavy rainfall in the coming days. They said that the preparation of flood and cyclone shelters is being monitored and the district emergency response team is ready for deployment.

The Chief Secretary said that Odisha has a reputation for disaster management. Restoration, training, and awareness programs have been done based on existing SOP.

Ahuja suggested that the existing SOP should be made more efficient and work in coordination with various departments and district levels to mitigate the effects of rainfall. He directed officials to follow the SOP and take all necessary steps to prevent loss of life.

Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department have advised to take steps for immediate repair of government buildings, school buildings, roads, culverts, etc. in case of damage.

On behalf of the health department, the chief district medical officers and team are ready and the departmental secretary highlighted that ORS, bleaching powder, anti-venom, ambulance, and rapid action team are in place.