ODISHA DISASTER MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY

GOVERNING BODY OF ODISHA DISASTER MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY MEETS.

STATE DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLAN PREPARED- LONG TERM AND MEDIUM TERM MEASURES WORKED OUT.

Bhubaneswar, 1st Feb:The Governing Body of the Odisha Disaster Management Authority met under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Sri Jugal Kishore Mohapatra today in secretariat conference hall to look in to the long and medium term measures for prevention, mitigation, preparedness, relief and rehabilitation measures to combat natural and human induced calamities. The Additional Chief Secretary Revenue & Disaster Management Dr Tardatt presented the updated situation and outlined the issues for discussion. Discussion reveal that as per earlier decisions of Govt. , State Disaster Management Plan ( SDMP) has been prepared with inputs from 22 departments dealing with various aspects of rescue , relief and rehabilitation matters. The plan has been prepared within the specified time schedule. The response plan of various departments include the details of arrangement for response , pre-calamity arrangements, activation of control room, arrangements for instant transmission of information to different quarters, dissemination of weather reports, cyclone alters and flood bulletins, storage of food in interior areas with other necessities of life, deployment of boats, construction and maintenance of fold/cyclone shelters and temporary shelters, organization and training of rescue and relief parties, regular review of district disaster management plan, formation of search and rescue teams, rescue and relief operation, damage assessment, emergency repair, restoration of infrastructure, developing cyclone resilient infrastructure and housing , assistance of defense and NDRF teams etc. The Standard of Procedures ( SOP) of different actions have also been worked out. A book let containing the entire plan has been published by OSDMA. The contents of the plan have also been uploaded in OSDEMA website for information of all the stakeholders and people. Chief Secretary has directed all the departments to keep on updating and refining their response plans regularly with changing requirements. The matters relating to implementation of the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project ( NCRMP), Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project ( ICZMP), Construction of ODRAF building, projects under Chief minister Relief Fund, Prime Minister National Relief Fund, Work status of new fold shelters, construction of new cyclone shelters with support of container Corporation of India, strengthening of flood shelters by providing emergency equipments,strengthening of fire service units, inventory and maintenance of equipment , repair and maintenance of VHF system and satellite phones, procurement of updated satellite phones and office automation were discussed in the meeting.Available data shows the NCRMP project in Odisha is being implemented in 6 coastal districts namely Balasore, Bhadrak, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Puri with financial outlay of Rs.653. 79 cr. including both the Central and State share. The major components of the fund includes setting up early warning dissemination system, construction of multipurpose cyclone shelters and godowns, connecting roads to shelters raising and strengthening of saline embankment and technical assistance for capacity building. Review shows that there has been substantial progress in the works during last 7 months. Out of total 154 projects work has been completed in 15 projects and 38 are in finishing stage. Other projects have been expedited to different stages of completion by 31st December,2013. Similarly, out of 143 approach roads of 175.33 kms work has been completed in 25 roads and work in other 116 projects are in progress. However, the work in 2 projects has not been started because of court cases. All the works for raising and strengthening of 10 saline embankments have also been expedited. Out of a total receipt of Rs 155 cr more than RS.100 cr has already been utilized by December,2013. In the meanwhile the DPR has been prepared for additional 162 multipurpose cyclone shelters and 127 approach roads to be implemented with World Bank assistance. Tender has been called for these projects. ICZM project is being implemented in two stretches of Odisha coast viz. Gopalpur to Chilika and Paradeep to Dhamara. In this project OSDMA has been entrusted with construction of 14 cyclone shelters with plan outlay of Rs.13.58 cr. In the meanwhile 5 shelters have already been completed and 6 are in finishing stage. The work in all other projects have been expedited to various stages of completion with utilization of Rs 6.42 cr by 31st December, The Development Commissioner Sri Injeti Srinivas, Additional Chief Secretary Finance Sri U.N.Behera , Principal Secretary Home Sri Vipin Kumar Saxena, Secretary Works Sri N.K.Pradhan General Manager OSDMA Sri Avaya Kumar Nayak along with other members of the Governing Body and senior officers of various departments participated in discussions.