Odisha Achieves Another Milestone In Disaster Management; Gets Recognition From UNESCO For Tsunami Ready

Bhubaneswar: Adding another feather to its success stories in fighting natural disasters, Odisha has become the first state in the Indian Ocean region to implement Tsunami Ready – A community performance-based programme initiated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.

The UNESCO recognition to Odisha is an outcome of the efforts of the government to promote tsunami preparedness through active collaboration of public, community leaders, and national and local emergency management agencies.

The Tsunami Ready program aims at improving the coastal community’s preparedness for tsunami emergencies, to minimize the loss of life and property and to ensure a structural and systematic approach in building community preparedness through fulfilling the best-practice indicators set by the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS) of UNESCO-IOC.

With this Tsunami Ready program, Odisha’s Venkatraipur village in Ganjam District and Noliasahi in Jagatsingpur District are on the world map of disaster management lessons and community readiness.

The Tsunami Ready program is implemented by the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA). The two model villages chosen were Venkatraipur in Ganjam District, and Noliasahi in Jagatsingpur District. The National Board, after the verification of implementation of the indicators at those villages as per guidelines, decided to recognize them nationally and recommended to UNESCO-IOC for the recognition.  Based on the National Board recommendations, UNESCO-IOC has approved the recognition of two communities in Venkatraipur and Noliasahi as Tsunami Ready Communities. With this recognition, India is the first country to implement Tsunami Ready in the Indian Ocean Region and Odisha is the first state.

The UNESCO-IOC’s Certificate of Recognition and Certificate of Appreciation to Venkatraipur and Noliasahi communities, OSDMA Officials, will be given in a virtual event organized jointly by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), ICG/IOTWMS Secretariat and Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Center (IOTIC) of UNESCO-IOC on tomorrow.