Odisha disaster management a model: CM

BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said Odisha has become a model state in disaster management.
"The state has developed an excellent response system in the face of successive disasters. Community participation during disaster preparedness has been encouraging," Naveen said at an event to mark Disaster Preparedness Day and National Day for Disaster Mitigation here.
The day was observed to commemorate the super cyclone that devastated the state on October 29, 1999.
Naveen said in the aftermath of cyclone Phailin, the Centre and World Bank agreed to finance construction of around 30,000 disaster-resistant houses in coastal districts between 2013 and 2018.
"The work is on through the project management unit of Odisha State Disaster Management Authority in Phailin-affected districts like Ganjam, Puri and Khurda under the Odisha Disaster Recovery Project," he said.
Naveen said all government departments have been asked to integrate disaster-resilience features in their ongoing reconstruction programmes. Agriculture, housing and urban development departments would concentrate on beneficiary-oriented schemes, he said.
For effective disaster management, the chief minister announced to strengthen fire and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) units with better training. Various disaster management equipment were put on display on the occasion.
Revenue minister Bijayshree Routray and school and mass education minister Debi Mishra were present.