Kendrapara: The district administration Wednesday organised an awareness programme and conducted mock drills as part of it at 64 coastal villages, which were identified as tsunami prone, said ADM, Kendrapara, Dhananjay Swain..
ODRAF and fire tender personnel participated in the drills along with the district emergency officer and senior officials of Rajnagar and Mahakalapara blocks.
As many as 64 villages, which are settled within 1.5 km radius of Bay of Bengal, were identified by the OSDMA as probe to tsunami in its GIC survey conducted a decade back in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
Eighteen villages in Mahakalapara block and 46 villages under Rajnagar block have been identified as tsunami prone, said district emergency officer Rajanikanta Mohanty.
The awareness programme was launched with an aim to assess the emergency response plan, highlight the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders, enhance coordination among emergency support functions and generate public awareness.
The mock drills were organised to educate people about skills related to evacuation, search and rescue operations and to take precautionary measures, Swain said.
A tsunami demonstration warning alarm machine brought from Hyderabad was displayed to educate the people about the tsunami alert system. It has been decided by the state government to install tsunami early warning system at 20 tsunami prone villages, including 11 in Rajnagar and 9 in Mahakalapara block, Swain said.
“Our main aim is to educate people about tsunami so that they can save lives and properties in case of any eventuality,” Swain said. PNN
