Cuttack: The civic administration pressed into service at least 16 high-power pumps on Wednesday to discharge untreated wastewater from the main drains of the city into the Kathajodi river and the Taladanda canal.

Municipal commissioner Bikash Ranjan Mohapatra told The Telegraph that the pumps were being used after closure of all the sluice gates used as outlets for main drains into the Mahanadi and the Kathajodi.

"The sluice gates had to be closed in view the rise in water level that will follow passing of floodwater in several lakh cusecs at a time through Cuttack in the two rivers in the next 24 hours," Mohapatra said.

"In such situations, keeping open the sluice gates would result in back flow of water," he added.

About eight lakh cusecs of floodwater released from the Hirakud dam will flow into the Mahanadi at Mundali barrage by Thursday morning. The floodwaters will be diverted to the Mahanadi and the Kathajodi from there.

The main drains also serve as surface water drainage system. One main drain discharges the water into the system. During heavy rainfall, it is possible to prevent inundation from it only by timely diversion of its flow into the Taladanda irrigation canal.

This apart, there is another main drain in the eastern part of the city, inundation from which can only be prevented by timely diversion of its flow into the Kathajodi river.

The gates of the main drains at Khannagar and Matagajpur (for release into the Kathajodi) and Gulgali and Jobra (for release into the Mahanadi) enable faster release of water during heavy rain.