Look at the contours of the disastrous consequences of the current Orissa floods in Mahanadi River basin: According to Engineer in Chief, Water Resources Department of Orissa, this is the worst floods in Orissa since 1982. The reason behind this
flood disaster is the filling up of the Hirakud Dam to full capacity before the end of the monsoon, the dam operators destroyed the flood control role of the Hirakud dam and thus brought an avoidable flood disaster on the people of coastal Orissa districts.