At 6 am, around 8 lakh cusecs of floodwater was passing through Mundali. The discharge remained steady at about 8.13 lakh cusecs for nearly four hours. By noon, it had increased to 8.28 lakh cusecs, and we expect the peak flow to reach around 9.5 lakh cusecs by evening, Rout said. Though Odisha has experienced much larger floods in the past, including flows of 10 lakh and 12 lakh cusecs, the government is keeping a close watch on the situation, he said. With discharge expected to cross 9 lakh cusecs, floodwaters are likely to spread across the Mahanadi and its distributary rivers, including the Luna, Karandia, Chitrotpala, Paika, Salia, Devi, Kandala, Kuakhai, Kushabhadra, Daya and Bhargavi.