Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has placed Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Khordha and Kataka districts on alert as the water level in the Mahanadi river continues to rise, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said after reviewing the flood situation on Friday.

The minister said that while water levels in almost all other rivers have receded below the danger mark, the Mahanadi continues to witness rising floodwaters. At present, around 8.65 lakh cusecs of water is flowing through the river.

Pujari, however, expressed hope that the flood situation would improve over the next 24 hours as weather conditions are expected to remain largely dry, with only light rainfall likely in two or three districts on Saturday.

He said relief operations are continuing in the affected areas. The government will provide both cooked and dry food to flood-hit people until the water recedes. Compensation will be released immediately after damage assessment reports are received, he added, while urging people to cooperate with the administration.

The minister said the floods have affected 15 districts, covering 57 blocks, 446 gram panchayats, 1,362 villages and 11 urban local bodies. A total of 7,91,846 people have been impacted, while 2,68,943 people remain marooned due to floodwaters.

According to the minister, floodwaters have damaged 21,380 hectares of agricultural land, while around 700 houses have been damaged. The state government has opened 647 relief centres to assist affected residents.

Pujari also said that Jajpur district has reported the highest number of embankment breaches.

Meanwhile, Engineer-in-Chief of the Water Resources Department, Dillip Kumar Rout, said the number of gates opened at the Hirakud Dam will increase from 14 to 22 by Friday evening. Around 3.5 lakh cusecs of water will be discharged through the 22 gates.

He said the inflow into the Hirakud reservoir is currently around 3.5 lakh cusecs, necessitating the opening of additional gates.

At Khairmal, the Mahanadi is presently carrying 5.27 lakh cusecs of water, which is expected to increase to around 7.5 lakh cusecs after the Hirakud releases reach downstream.

Rout said the flood discharge at Mundali had peaked at 8.88 lakh cusecs on Thursday evening and has now reduced to 8.65 lakh cusecs. The discharge is expected to fall below 7.5 lakh cusecs by Saturday morning.

He also confirmed that floodwaters have entered the Daya and Kushabhadra rivers. Officials have reported seven embankment breaches across the state, and repair work will begin after floodwaters recede, he added.