Continuous heavy rain has raised fears of floods in the Mahanadi basin, with the Odisha government on high alert and water being released from the Hirakud dam.

Officials said 24 gates of the Hirakud dam near Sambalpur have been opened, with 3.36 lakh cusecs of water entering and discharged every second. The current water level at the reservoir is 626.58 feet and is being monitored at Khairimal, Baramul and Munduli.

The inflow could rise to 4.5 lakh cusecs by September 7 following rainfall in Chhattisgarh, which holds the upper catchment area of the river. The state government is also worried about the formation of another low-pressure area over the northwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal, which may trigger further downpours. Earlier, a low-pressure system had already caused heavy rainfall across Odisha.

The Special Relief Commissioner’s office has asked districts to remain on high alert and prepare for possible flash floods, including shifting people to safer places.

The Baitarani and Brahmani rivers may inundate Jajpur and Bhadrak for the second time in a month, while the Subarnarekha and Jalaka threaten to flood north Balasore for the ninth time in the same period.

“The Jalaka is flowing above the danger level at Mathani. We are closely monitoring the situation,” said Chandrasekhar Padhee, chief engineer, water resources department.

Meanwhile, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s Bhubaneswar-bound flight from Delhi was diverted to Calcutta due to inclement weather on Friday morning before returning after refuelling.