Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: In view of the Met forecast of above normal rain in the ensuing monsoon, the state government Friday instructed all district collectors to report within 10 days their preparedness to tackle flood or other calamities.
The direction was issued during a pre-rain readiness meeting, presided over by special relief commissioner (SRC) Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, and attended by ADMs and officials from police, fire brigade, emergency units and ODRAF among others.
“Thirty-four points were taken up at the meeting as part of the government’s monsoon preparedness,” said Mohapatra, adding, “We have discussed the issues and problems faced by local administration in dealing with calamities and have asked all collectors to submit reports within 10 days about their level of preparedness.”
The meeting discussed deployment of the Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) at flood-prone and riparian areas to ensure appropriate rescue and evacuation operations. The meeting discussed creation of 10 more ODRAF teams raising existing number to 20.
The SRC asked fire department personnel to remain alert in all 290 fire stations throughout the monsoon period.
The meeting deliberated upon procurement of required equipment to strengthen disaster response system in addition to positioning of rescue boats at strategic locations.
The district emergency units were ordered to be alert in view of an eventuality.
As part of monsoon preparedness the government had asked all collectors May 19 to ensure storage of adequate quantities of essential commodities like food grains and kerosene in remote/inaccessible pockets and flood prone areas.
Expressing concern over vulnerable areas during floods, the government has recently directed the collectors to identify additional storage points within the inaccessible pockets for storage of food gains.
