SAMBALPUR: Even as doubts are being raised over water shortage after power generation was stopped in the Hirakud dam reservoir (HDR), the decision to release a mere 50 cusecs of water from the HDR into the Bargarh main canal for irrigation of kharif crop has come under a cloud. As per reports, 50 cusecs of water was released into the Bargarh main canal, 500 cusecs into Sason canal, 40 cusecs into Sambalpur distributary besides another seven cusecs into Hirakud canal on Thursday for irrigation purposes. However, the figures were much higher in the past. Sources in the control room of the Hirakud dam project revealed that last year 550 cusecs was released into Bargarh Canal on June 18 and this went up to 2,050 cusecs on June 21 against the carrying capacity of the canal of 3,800 cusecs. However, Superintendent Engineer, Hirakud Dam, Janaki Ballav Mohapatra assured that there is enough water in HDR to cater to the irrigation needs of the farmers.