Odisha govt to prepare Disaster Management Yodhas in every household: Here’s how

This will help Odisha in preparing Disaster Management Yodhas in every village and household, said Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik while observing the Odisha Disaster Preparedness Day on Saturday.

“To strengthen community-driven preparedness, we are training more than 40 thousand volunteers at village and shelter level. Further, the Government is taking up capacity building of elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, Urban Local Bodies, Mission Shakti Members, ASHAs, Anganwadi Workers, and Vana Surakhya Samiti (VSS) Members, as they play a key role in disaster risk reduction.” he added

The Odisha Disaster Preparedness Day and National Day for Disaster Reduction are observed to commemorate the super cyclone which took the lives of 10,000 people in Odisha in 1999.

While addressing the event, CM said the day is an opportunity to contemplate the current situation and make a resolve for the future. On this day, people pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the super cyclone in 1999.

Odisha has the most robust disaster management infrastructure, says CM Naveen Patnaik

The CM also threw light upon the development done in the field of building a sound disaster management infrastructure. He said that during 23 years since the Super Cyclone, Odisha has built the most robust infrastructure for disaster management.

The disaster management preparedness of Odisha has been recognised by several countries across the world. Later, he also thanked all the 4.5 crore, people of the state, for contributing to the development of a disaster-resilient Odisha.

Remembering the remarkable contribution of workers of several organisations, Naveen Patnaik applauded the efforts of PRI members, Mission Shakti Group members, and frontline workers like ASHAs and Anganwadi Workers. He also mentioned the significant contribution of NGOs and community-level volunteers, Government Officials, ODRAF, Fire Services, NDRF and Police personnel in executing coordinated work to reduce human casualty.

Talking about this year’s natural calamities, CM said the state faced floods in the Mahanadi, Baitarani, and Subarnarekha River systems. The flood caused a huge loss of property and affected more than 23 lakh people in 16 districts. However, the disaster management teams managed to evacuate nearly 2.7 lakh people to safer places. Moreover, the government ensured to provide timely relief to the affected people.

815 shelters constructed since Super Cyclone, 55 under construction

The Chief Minister took the opportunity to give a clarion call to all the stakeholders to come forward and contribute to the creation of a disaster-resilient Odisha. He informed that around 815 multi-purpose cyclone and flood shelters have been created since Super Cyclone hit the state in 1999. Along with this, 55 new shelters are under construction out of Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. He said that the geographical location of Odisha makes it prone to natural calamities and disasters. At the time when Super Cyclone hit Odisha, the state was not prepared. There were not even enough shelters at that time.

The government is also building the capacity of organisations and institutions that play a key role in disaster risk reduction. It will boos capacity of elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, Urban Local Bodies, Mission Shakti Members, ASHA, Anganwadi Workers, Vana Surakhya Samiti (VSS) Members, etc.

(With inputs from ANI)