Bhubaneswar, July 10 -- The water level of the Mahanadi river has started rising in Odisha's Sonepur district following the release of the season's first floodwater from the Hirakud Dam on Thursday.

The Hirakud reservoir released floodwater through 10 sluice gates, marking the first discharge of the season. As it typically takes around 18 hours for the released water to reach Sonepur, the floodwater from the first four gates reached the district at around 6:30 am on Thursday. The discharge from the remaining six gates was expected to arrive after 10 am.

With the inflow of water from Hirakud, the Mahanadi's water level has witnessed a noticeable increase in Sonepur. However, officials said there is no flood situation in the district at p...