Hirakud authorities to open 20 more gates tomorrow

Sambalpur: The Hirakud dam authorities on Thursday decided to open 20 more sluice gates tomorrow, said a top official of the reservoir today.

At present flood water is being released through four gates. With tomorrow’s opening of gates the excess water will be released through 24 gates, said chief engineer of the dam Biswajit Mohanty.

If there will be rain in the upper catchment area, decision might be taken to open more sluice gates, he added.

Notably, on July 24, the dam authorities had released the season’s first flood water through 20 gates into the Mahanadi river. Subsequently, 19 gates were closed as the water level in the dam fell to manageable level.