- The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a heavy rainfall causing the flood situation in the Mahanadi River, Odisha.
- The low-pressure area is expected to form over the north Bay of Bengal and trigger heavy rainfall at a few places in Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
India Meteorological Department (IMD)
- IMD was established in 1875.
- It is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
- It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology.
Mahanadi River
- The Mahanadi River system is the third largest of peninsular India after Godavari and Krishna, and the largest river of Odisha state.
- The catchment area of the river extends to Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
- Its basin is bounded by the Central India hills on the north, by the Eastern Ghats on the south and east and by the Maikala rangein the west.
Source:
- It rises from a place near Sihawa, near Raipur in the state of Chhattisgarh to the south of Amarkantak.
- The Seonath, the Hasdeo, the Mand and the Ib joins Mahanadi from left whereas the Ong, the Tel and the Jonk joins it from right.
- The Central Government constituted Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal in 2018.
Major Dams/Projects on Mahanadi:
- Hirakud Dam This is the longest dam of India.
- RavishankarSagar, Dudhawa Reservoir, Sondur Reservoir, HasdeoBango and Tandula are other major projects.
- Three important urban centres in the basin are Raipur, Durg and Cuttack.
- Mahanadi basin, because of its rich mineral resource and adequate power resource, has a favourable industrial climate.
- Iron and Steel plant at Bhilai
- Aluminium factories at Hirakud and Korba
- Paper mill near Cuttack
- Cement factory at Sundargarh.
- Other industries based primarily on agricultural produce are sugar and textile mills.
- Mining of coal, iron and manganese are other industrial activities.
SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT