Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today emphasized the need for developing resilience in order to achieve a substantial reduction in economic losses caused by natural disasters.
Speaking on the occasion of Odisha Disaster Preparedness Day and National Day of Disaster Reduction at the state level function at Rabindra Mandap here, the Chief Minister highlighted that the recent disasters demonstrate the need for integrating the principle of resilience in every area of development planning and recovery process to achieve a substantial reduction in economic losses.
He said, “ In the coming years, the disaster management efforts of the State will be to build resilience at all levels with a focus on disaster resilient public infrastructure and services, disaster-resilient housing for all and resilient livelihood and sustainable environment practices to reduce the risk of future disasters”.
“Odisha had been devastated by a super cyclone just twenty years ago and it had learnt how to be prepared to face natural disasters”.
“Odisha has already set global benchmark in handling disasters and it was fully prepared to face all possible eventualities in the face of this calamity of the highest magnitude”, the CM said.
He further said that this year the State faced another fierce cyclone Fani. The disaster was successfully managed due to the collective team effort by the alert state administration.
Naveen expressed his gratitude to the personnel of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, Odisha Fire Service, National Disaster Response Force and Odisha Police for their outstanding work during the Fani.
He also acknowledged the OSDMA and said, “The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) has continuously played a pivotal role in enhancing the state’s capabilities for managing disasters”.
The efforts made by OSDMA, in its two decades of existence are commendable and appreciated by policymakers and scholars worldwide, he added.