Kendrapara: Ten siren centres, out of twenty, which were established for cyclone alert in Kendrapara district by the state government in October, 2018 have been lying defunct these days.
Cyclone alert systems were setup under a project on cyclone alarm and disaster management. During Amphan, though the alert systems at Ratapanga, Narasinghpur, Jambu, Tantiapal, Endulapur, Kaitha, Chinchiri, Pentha, Brahmanasahi and Kandarapatia alerted the locals and administrative officials, the remaining ten did not.
It may be mentioned here that the siren alert centres are under the Revenue and Disaster Management department of the state government and being maintained by Larsen and Toubro Limited, official sources informed.
When contacted on the issue, the district emergency officer Sambit Kumar Satpathy said, “The siren alert centres are of utmost importance for effective disaster management. These centres help people within a radius of one and half kilometres in making alerts, ahead of cyclone, storm and tsunami strike the coastal region. If necessary, the villagers under Mahakalapada and Rajnagar blocks are evacuated to a safer place instead.” He agreed that as ten of the siren systems have become defunct, it “has a severe bearing” on effective disaster management in Kendrapara.
There are technical glitches in the laid optical fibre lines. “We have written to the contract firm several times through the state Disaster Management department, for immediate repair and maintenance.”
Notably, as it has been observed during a few past incidents, the path of the cyclonic storms sometimes change which makes it difficult for the technicians and officials in disaster preparedness in the district.
Even as locals here are yet unable to set right their fiscal standing and restore household assets following Amphan, they apprehended unforeseen damages which might be caused by cyclones in future.
As Kendrapara district is located in natural disaster zone in the state, it might be hit by cyclones in future. Safety of lives, livestock and livelihoods in the district is a matter of priority for Kendrapara administration, said an official.
PNN