Why Hirakud dam failed to check flood

There is no sign of floods abating in Odisha and two-thirds of the state’s 30 districts are affected. Experts and the public attribute the current flood in Orissa entirely to the mismanagement of the Hirakud dam. In fact, almost all severe floods in the state have been triggered by the abrupt opening of the dam’s gates—2002, 2008 and 2011. This new report in Down to Earth calls for junking of the strategy called the rule of curve and adopting a completely new one based on the present rainfall pattern both upstream and downstream of the dam.