Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s geographical position and climate are always prone to floods and storms. Due to the return of South West Monsoon (especially in the months of October and November), severe storms are experienced in Odisha from this month. Sometimes this period lasts till December 15.
Considering this, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra has “directed the concerned departments to be fully prepared for the monsoon season”. He chaired a meeting of senior officials and discussed about preparedness and response in the wake of a natural disaster.
Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Satyabrat Sahu presented various aspects of possible cyclone preparedness for discussion. The regional director of Indian Meteorological Department, HR Biswas, said that Odisha’s current climate is suitable for storms, but there is no indication of a storm in the next 15 days.
The discussion of the meeting revealed that in the meantime, the storm forecasting and early warning information transmission infrastructure has been improved in Odisha. District and region-wise weather information is provided. A storm impact-based forecast system has been developed.
Doppler Weather Radar Stations at Gopalpur and Paradeep and High Wind Speed Recorders have been installed at Balasore, Chandbali, Puri, Bhubaneswar, Gopalpur and Paradeep. This machine is about 300 km per hour. Can also work in windy conditions.
All these modern infrastructures help in weather forecasting as well as monitoring the condition.
As the telephone and power supply systems in cyclone are severely damaged, Mahapatra directed that mobile telecom towers, satellite phone generators, power poles, conductors, substations, and a sufficient number of human resources should be prepared for immediate deployment as needed.
Apart from this, he ordered to keep the hand pumps in the villages and urban areas functional and make full preparations to make the drinking water supply system functional in case of a storm.
The Department of Women and Child Development was asked to continue the cyclone preparedness awareness program in the cyclone-prone coastal villages and to prepare a list of the imminent delivery, the elderly, the disabled, the destitute.
Re-establishment of immediate access facilities, repair of roads and embankments, protection of salinity dams during storms, potable water, urban stormwater drainage, alternative power systems in hospitals, food supply, provision of food and sanitation with contingency plans, and human resources to farmers was discussed.
Mahapatra directed the concerned departments to be prepared for the work of providing proper advice and information, protecting and transporting the grain collected in the grain market. The departments were also asked to keep the field officers and staff alert accordingly.
Among others, Dr Mona Sharma, Additional Principal Secretary, Forest and Environment, Satyabrat Sahu, Principal Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management, Anu Garg, Additional Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department, and senior officials of Navy, Army, Coast Guard and Indian Meteorological Department were present.
