**Bhubaneswar: ** With the mercury level soaring every passing day and the pinches of the sizzling summer pricking, Odisha Government has already implemented heatwave action plan across the State to combat sunstroke.
Deputy SRC Pravat Ranjan Mohapatra informed, “OSDMA has prepared a heatwave action plan for entire State. It has already been circulated among the concerned departments and Collectors for implementation. Accordingly, the departments have instructed their sub-ordinate offices to implement it.”
Elucidating on it, the Deputy Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) said, “For instance, the School and Mass Education Department. It had been directed to re-schedule the school timing and hence, morning school is being going on. Similarly, the Labour and ESI Department was asked to re-schedule the working time of the labourers. Thus, it has issued order not to employ labourforce on worksites from 11 am-3 pm during the scorching rays of the sun.”
“Two more main things have been taken note of. One is drinking water facility problem and the next one is awareness programme. Stress has been laid on these two pivotal points. The Health Department is publishing advertisements in newspapers and other media highlighting the dos and don’ts to combat heatwave. On the water supply issue, the Chief Secretary has already reviewed thrice with the H&UD and Panchayati Raj department officials. It has been directed to utilise water tankers adequately for the drinking water supply purpose. It has been instructed to employ more workforce and deploy more vehicles to repair the non-functional tubewells and other water tapping sources in the rural belt and address such complaints at the earliest,” he further informed.
On dealing with sunstroke patients, the Deputy SRC also informed, “Like every year, State Government has issued instructions to all health centres to be ready with dealing sunstroke patients on an emergency basis for which they have earlier been asked to make necessary arrangements,”
