Bhubaneswar: With the water level of Subarnarekha river rising at an alarming rate, the Odisha government has sounded a high alert in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts.
About 3 lakh cusec of water has been released from Jharkhand into river Subarnarekha, which is likely to reach Rajghat early tomorrow morning, Deputy Relief Commissioner Prabhat Mohapatra told the media here today.
“The release of excess water from Galudih barrage in Jharkhand is likely to create high flood in the Subarnarekha basin area, especially in Rasagobindpur block of Mayurbhanj district and Jaleswar, Basta, Baliapal and Bhogarai areas in Balasore districts. Keeping this in view, collectors of these two districts have been asked to review the situation and ensure that all flood preparedness arrangements including pre-positioning of food stuff in inaccessible and strategic places, boat arrangements etc. are in place and officers and staff connected with response activities across departments are ready to step in,” Mohapatra said.
He further said collectors of the two districts have been asked to deploy Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Fire Services personnel available in their respective districts at strategic locations to take up search and rescue operations.
“The collectors have also been asked to quickly assess the situation and if necessary, intimate the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) about any additional requirement they may need,” he said.
Instructions have been given to them to keep the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) updated about the situation at regular intervals, he added.
As per the reports, heavy rains have lashed upper catchments of Subarnarekha in the last 24 hours with Jamshedpur recording the highest rainfall at 185 mm forcing the authorities of Galudih barrage to release excess water in the lower catchments.
Till reports last came in, the barrage was releasing 2.85 lakh cusecs of water per second.
The floodwater is likely to reach Rajghat at about 6 AM tomorrow. Considering the volume of water released from Galudih barrage, it is expected that the floodwater will cross the danger mark (10.36 metre) at Rajghat by about two metres.