Bhubaneswar: Being a pioneer in disaster management, the Odisha Government has come up with yet another innovative idea and started the process to broadcast an SMS based alert system and play tower siren to evacuate people in the districts which are expected to be affected most by the cyclone, said State Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), Pradeep Jena, on Tuesday.
Briefing the media Jena said, “The rain has already started in Bhubaneswar as well as few other coastal districts. Evacuation process has started. We are also starting to broadcast an SMS alert system to all these districts. We will also start our location-based alert system in the afternoon. We will run siren and give messages”.
According to Met bulletin, Cyclonic storm Amphan lays over 470 km down south of Paradeep. It is likely to make landfall in between Digha, West Bengal and Hatiya Islands, Bangladesh on May 20 between afternoon and evening.
At the landfall time, the wind speed expected will be about 150 to 160 km. In Odisha and north- Odisha coastal districts, the concerned administration is expecting a wind velocity of 100 to 200 km per hour.
In view of the cyclone, 31 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) including one in Jagatsinghpur, 15 National Disaster Rapid Force (NDRF) and 217 Odisha Fire Service teams have been deployed in the districts of Odisha.
Moreover, adequate arrangements have been made for generators and water tankers for both rural and urban areas.