Bhubaneswar, Sep 28: The flood situation in the Mahanadi river system is expected to peak at Mundali in Odisha on Monday evening, with the water flow likely to remain below 8 lakh cusecs, a senior Water Resources Department official said.

Water Resources Department Engineer-in-Chief Dillip Kumar Rout said around 7.83 lakh cusecs of water was flowing through Mundali at noon and the discharge was gradually increasing. However, he said the flow was not expected to cross the 8-lakh-cusec mark.

The water level in the Hirakud reservoir stood at 629.52 feet, while the inflow was around 6.30 lakh cusecs. By noon, 28 sluice gates of the Hirakud Dam had been opened, releasing around 5 lakh cusecs of water. Two additional gates were subsequently opened.

Rout said the flood situation was unlikely to worsen as the inflow into Hirakud had started declining. At Saradih in Chhattisgarh, the inflow had dropped from around 7 lakh cusecs to nearly 6 lakh cusecs.

The water flow at Patharla in the lower Tel basin had also declined to around 1.16 lakh cusecs from 2.70 lakh cusecs recorded on Sunday.

Rout said rainfall remained below 30 mm in most parts of Odisha. The delta districts, including Khordha, Puri, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and parts of Kendrapada, were facing only a minor flood situation.

He said authorities were closely monitoring Mundali and expected the flood to gradually recede after peaking on Monday evening. No significant flood situation was reported in other rivers of the state.

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