Bhubaneswar, Aug 6: Yesterday CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurated 100 multi-purpose flood and cyclone centers in around 17 districts, at the State Secretariat.
From the 100, Puri district is the highest with 20 centers, followed by Ganjam with 16, Balasore and Khurdha having 12 each, Kendrapara and Bhadrak with 10 each. 3 centers are there in Cuttack while Boudh, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur districts have two centers each and one project in the Bargarh district.
These centers are said to be buildings constructed in school premises, where people can safely move in at the time of disasters as well as in normal times. These buildings are also equipped with first aid boxes, kitchen utensils, power saws, life buoys, foldable stretchers, search lights, solar lanterns and water filters that would be put to use in calamity times. These centers are likely to serve various other purposes of the localites during natural disasters besides the said above. ‘Aanganwadi’ centres and artisan complexes, an integrated service delivery centre for activities like training programmes, health camps, and welfare hostels and also disaster preparedness centers during normal times are also to be opened.
In Odisha, the responsibility of day-to-day management and maintenance of the shelters are given to committees led by the block development officers (BDOs), trained in the use of these equipment.
