Bhubaneswar, Aug 9: Odisha's Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Satyabrata Sahu on Friday alerted the Collectors of 10 districts in the State after the water level in Mahanadi River increased following the release of excess water from Hirakud Dam.

The districts that were put on alert were Sambalpur, Sonepur, Nayagarh, Angul, Boudh, Puri, Khordha, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara.

The SRC asked the collectors to give special attention to people living in low-lying areas.

 According to official sources, a total of 5.78 lakh cusecs of water was flowing in Mahanadi at Mundali in Cuttack district at 8 AM today.

Meanwhile, six more sluice gates of Hirakud Dam in Sambalpur district were opened to release more water from the reservoir after heavy rainfall in the upper catchment areas of Mahanadi.

Currently, water is being released through 14 gates, including nine on the left spillway and five on the right spillway of the reservoir.

The water level of the dam stood at 612.25 ft at 6 AM against its full reservoir level of 630 ft, sources said.

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