Bhubaneswar: Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja in a meeting reviewed the situation regarding the water level of reservoirs in various river basins including water flow status in various rivers and the preparedness and precautionary measures of various departments including water resources department and steps taken by district magistrates in the respective districts.
The meeting was attended by Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary, Water Resources, Anu Garg, Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue& Disaster Management, Forest, Environment and Climate Change, and State Special Relief Commissioner, Satyabrat Sahu, Principal Secretary Panchayatiraj and Drinking Water, Sushil Kumar Lohani, Secretary Health & Family Welfare, Shalini Pandit, Engineer In Chief Water Resources Bhaktaranjan Mohanty were prominently present.
The District Magistrates of Subarnapur, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh, Puri, Cuttack attended the meeting through virtual system 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 studied.
Shrimati Garg said that when the water level rises in various reservoirs during the rainy season, the water is released into the river based on the rule curve followed by the department, information on water entry at the upper reaches of various river basins and the capacity of water flow in various rivers.
Now 20 gates out of 98 gates have been opened in Hirakud Reservoir. The discussion of the meeting revealed that the water storage capacity of Diamond 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.
EIC Shri Mohanty presented the water level status of various reservoirs, water flow status in the river. The status of water flow in all large and medium reservoirs and rivers has been monitored as a precautionary measure. While yesterday’s high water flow in Jalka river, now the water flow is below the dangerous level. About 4.42 lakh cusecs of water is flowing in Mundali river till now. The inflow of water to the Hirakud and Rengali reservoirs is low. However, the water level in other reservoirs has increased due to heavy rains.
ACS And Special Relief Commissioner, Shri Sahu 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 storms. 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 flow of water in various rivers, the SRC advised the District Magistrates to be aware, especially those who go to see the water flow in the river, not to leave small children on the banks of the river, not to leave cows and cattle in the river, and to refrain from taking dangerous selfies.
Also, the SRC has instructed the District Collectors to keep a watchful eye on the large number of passengers being transported by boat or launch in Chilika and take necessary action. Officers and employees in the concerned districts have been advised not to take leave in view of 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. The district officials said that precautionary measures have been taken due to the flood situation due to heavy rainfall in the coming days. He said that the preparation of flood and storm shelters is being monitored and the district emergency response team is ready.
The Chief Secretary said that Odisha has a reputation in disaster management. Recovery system, training, awareness programs have been done on the basis of existing SOP.
He suggested that the existing SOP should be made more effective for the effects of heavy rains and the next steps to be taken in coordination with various departments and districts.
Officials have been advised to take steps for immediate repair of government and school buildings, roads, culverts etc. in case of damage. On behalf of the Department of Health, the district chief medical officers led Health Teams are ready and Secretary Health & FW Shrimati Pandit highlighted that ORS, bleaching powder, anti-venom, ambulance and rapid action team are in place.