Bhubaneswar: October 29: On the occasion of Odisha Disaster Preparedness Day, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today launched the early warning dissemination system and mass message system to provide timely information on calamity to public.
Chief Minister offered his condolences to the human lives lost in recent landslide and heavy rains. At the same time, he expressed his gratitude to all those who worked tirelessly to make sure that all those living in vulnerable areas of our coastline from Ganjam to Balasore were evacuated to safety’.
He said, ‘More than 3 lakh people were evacuated in less than 24 hours and I know, what intense efforts were put by the volunteers, PRIs, CSOs and the Administration, to achieve the mammoth task.’
‘In the face of a disaster of this magnitude, as a severe Cyclonic Storm, the third most aggressive in the last two decades- if we could manage near zero casualty, along with entire coastline-the credit goes to each person who pitched in and also to the Odisha Disaster Preparedness System-the 879 shelter buildings, 20 ODRAF Units, 339 Fire and Disaster Response Units, the early warning Dissemination Systems, Our partnership with RIMES Thailand, Earth Networks USA, deployment of Doppler Radars, our initiative of pucca houses and our scientific mock drills with community participation’, he added.
Chief Minister praised the efforts of NDRF, ODRAF, Fire Services, OFDC and Voluntary Organisations, who in record time, have cleared thousands of trees.
‘Quick restoration of water, electricity and essential services was done except in the most challenging pockets where work is on in full-swing’, CM said.
