New Delhi: The Odisha government said that there was a possibility of a minor-to-medium flood in 11 districts located in the river basin with the water level in Mahanadi River swelling after discharge of water from the Hirakud Dam.

With the situation likely to become grim in the next 12 hours, chief minister Naveen Patnaik took stock of the situation and asked the administration to remain alert. “There is a possibility of a minor to medium floods in these 11 districts located in the Mahanadi river basin,” a statement issued by the chief minister’s office (CMO) said.

The authorities of the Hirakud Dam had yesterday opened 25 gates as the neighbouring Chhattishgarh had released huge volumes of water. The situation became worse when the local rivers added to the woes, a senior official at the state water resources department said.

Officials said though 5,54,695 cusecs of water flows through the Mundali gauge station in Mahanadi near Cuttack, it might increase to 8.5 lakh cusecs by midnight. This can likely cause inundation in the low-lying areas of the districts of Sambalpur, Subarnapur, Boudh, Nayagarh, Angul, Cuttack, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Khurda and Jajpur by Thursday morning.

The district collectors have been asked to ensure that there was enough stock of food materials, besides water, medicines and other essential items. Patnaik also asked the collectors to evacuate people from the low-lying areas as the flood water could enter into villages on Wednesday night or Thursday morning.