Heavy rainfall in the upper catchment areas of Mahanadi during the last three days is likely to cause a medium flood in the state, observed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday.

The redeeming feature, however, is that the flood waters of Tel and Hati are expected to flow downstream before the flood waters of Mahanadi get discharged.

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Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reviewed the flood situation and directed six district Collectors of coastal belt to remain alert to meet any eventuality in the wake of a flood in the Mahanadi delta.

The district collectors of Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Khordha have been told the keep a watch as around eight lakh cusecs of flood water is likely to pass in Mahanadi at Mundul.

Collectors of Keonjhar, Jajpur and Bhadrak have also been put on alert as river Baitarani is likely to be flooded. The ODRAF and the Fire service department have been despatched to vulnerable areas for relief and rescue operations.

Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishunupada Sethi said flood waters have crossed danger level in Baitarani river near Akhuapada. Water Resources Secretary Pradip Jena said 12 to 15 gates of Hirakud dam would be opened at 11 AM on Tuesday to bring down the water level in the Hirakud reservoir from the existing 618 ft to 610 Ft in next two to three days.

He said three lakh cusecs of water would be released from the Hirakud reservoir on Tuesday. The three lakh cusecs of water released from Hirakud would take 36 hours to reach low lying areas.

The people residing on the bank of rivers and low lying areas have been asked to take precautionary measures.

As per the latest reports flood waters of Mahanadi entered the Banki sub-division on Monday. Road communication between Banki and Bilipada has been cut off.

Mr.Sethy said about 8 lakh cusecs of floodwater is likely to be discharged from the Mundali barrage. He informed that four deaths due to rains had been reported and over 1000 houses were either partially and fully damaged. A total of three lakh people were affected by the rain and 3,000 people were rescued while 6000 were provided cooked food.

The East Coast railway has put up additional Cotrol Room & Crisis Management Cell and is keeping a close watch on bridges, tracks and signalling systems, stated a release from the railways here.

General Manager, East Coast Railway, Mr Umesh Singh has directed the concerned officials to be on full alert towards any incident caused by flood situation near Railway Track for the safety of passengers and smooth train operations.