Nine persons lost their lives as the mighty Mahanadi river rose menacingly and other rivers were in spate on Friday, triggering a major flood situation in Orissa as a high alert was sounded in four coastal districts, official sources said.

With other rivers such as the Subarnarekha, Baitarani and Brahmani in spate, one person was feared drowned in flood waters of the river Tel in Sonepur, while two flood and rain related deaths each were reported from Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Kendrapara districts, official sources said.

“We are apprehending a major flood in the Mahanadi system as a huge volume of water is heading downstream,” Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy told reporters in Bhubaneswar.

Tripathy said more than 14 lakh cusecs of water was expected to reach the Naraj delta head near Cuttack on Saturday as 22 sluice gates of the Hirakud dam on the Mahanadi were opened this afternoon after the water level in the reservoir touched 629.97 feet, almost near its capacity of 630 feet.

While 4.2 lakh cusec of water was entering the reservoir, 3.59 lakh cusec was being released through the gates, and more gates were likely to be opened in view of heavy rain in catchment area in Chhattisgarh, a senior official said.

The embankments of the Mahanadi and its branches criss- crossing the coastal deltaic plains have a capacity to contain about 12 lakh cusecs of water, he said.

The present flood situation in Mahanadi was similar to the one faced in 2001 when 14.8 lakh cusec water passed through the plains. Earlier in 1982, 15.80 lakh cusec of water wreaked havoc, he said.