Hirakud: Authorities of the Hirakud Dam today released season’s first flood water through one of the sluice gates of the dam. As per reports, around 15,550 cusec of floodwater was discharged through gate no-7 of the dam.
Earlier in the morning today, the dam authorities conducted a special puja at the designated gate for good luck and at around 11.24 AM, the sluice gate number 7 was opened to release the excess water.
Presently, around 1.40 lakh cusec water is entering the dam whereas the outflow is 30,000 cusec water after the opening of the gate.
Chief engineer of the dam, Sunil Kumar Nayak said the lone discharging gate will be closed in the afternoon. “After reviewing the flood situation in low lying areas, a decision on opening of more gates will be taken tomorrow,” he added.
It may be noted that the dam’s maximum storage capacity is 630 feet. Following heavy rainfall in upper catchment areas of Chhattisgarh for past few days, water level of the dam has been considerably rising.
On this special occasion, selected visitors were allowed onto the dam to witness the release of water and capture the moment with their mobile phones.