Odisha Govt Training over 40,000 Volunteers at Village Level to Strengthen Community Driven Preparedness for Disaster Management

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government is training more than 40,000 volunteers at the village and shelter level to strengthen community driven preparedness for disaster management.

The State Government is also taking up capacity building of elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, Urban Local Bodies, Mission Shakti Members, ASHAs, Anganwadi Workers, Vana Surakhya Samiti (VSS) Members, as they play a key role in disaster risk reduction, said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the occasion of Odisha Disaster Preparedness Day and National Day for Disaster Reduction day on Saturday.

The Chief Minister said, “Our geographic location makes us prone to natural disasters. Every life is precious. Nearly 10 thousand people died in Super Cyclone 1999. Then, we did not have safe shelters. During these years, 815 multi-purpose cyclone and flood shelters have been constructed. 55 new shelters are under construction out of Chief Ministers’ Relief Fund”.

“During 23 years since the Super Cyclone, we have done everything possible to make Odisha a safer place during disasters. Odisha today has the most robust infrastructure for disaster management. The world has recognized our efforts in all these years”, he said.

For better impact-based forecasting, the Government will set up Telemetric Rain Gauge in all Gram Panchayats, Automatic Weather Station at Block headquarters, and sensors in our River Systems. These steps will help us to get precise real time information for more effective management of disasters, the CM added.