Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Water Resources Department will increase the number of open gates at the Hirakud Dam from 14 to 22 by Friday evening as inflow into the reservoir continues to rise, Engineer-in-Chief Dillip Kumar Rout said.

Speaking on the flood situation, Rout said around 2 lakh cusecs of water is currently being released from the dam through 14 gates. Once 22 gates are opened, the discharge will increase to approximately 3.5 lakh cusecs.

He said the decision to open additional gates has been taken due to the increasing inflow into the Hirakud reservoir.

According to Rout, the Mahanadi is currently carrying 5.27 lakh cusecs of water at Khairmal. After the additional discharge from Hirakud reaches downstream, the flow at Khairmal is expected to rise to around 7.5 lakh cusecs.

Providing an update on the downstream situation, the Engineer-in-Chief said the flood discharge at Mundali had peaked at 8.88 lakh cusecs on Thursday evening. The flow has since reduced to 8.65 lakh cusecs and is expected to fall below 7.5 lakh cusecs by Saturday morning.

He also said floodwaters have entered the Daya and Kushabhadra rivers, and authorities are closely monitoring the situation.

Rout informed that seven embankment breaches have been reported due to the floods, and detailed reports have been sought from field officials. However, he clarified that no embankment breach has occurred in the Mahanadi river system. Repairs to the damaged embankments will be taken up after floodwaters recede, he added.