Bhubaneswar: Chairing a state-level natural disaster committee meeting, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday instructed the officials to strictly follow the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to tackle natural calamities.
The Chief Minister emphasised on advance planning, quick rescue and restoration efforts to deal with natural calamities. “The state government has taken several result-oriented measures to lessen the threat from natural disasters. Our preparedness should be dynamic, collective and participatory in nature,” he said.
Stating that Odisha remains the first state to institutionalise community-based preparation, he said, “Our experience in community-based management has been also helped a lot in Covid management.”
Stating that since Odisha is a natural calamity-prone state, Naveen said, “Despite facing several threats due to natural disasters, we are prepared to tackle any kind of situation.”
“We have always been learning from past disaster experiences and make an endeavour to bring improvement in our preparations for the future eventualities. We have been praised by all sections for learning from our experience and subsequent preparedness,” he stated.
The southwest monsoon has set in on time this year in Odisha. Besides, the period from June to October is crucial for the state owing to the fact that several natural disasters like droughts, cyclones and floods may occur, the Chief Minister said, adding, “We need to augment our resources and review our preparedness to tackle such natural disasters.”
Mentioning about Covid-19, the Chief Minister said the day-to-day life of the people has been severely affected due to the pandemic during last three months. Odisha is now in a better position because of the steps taken to contain the spread of the disease, he pointed out.
Naveen thanked the people of the state for their cooperation in the fight against coronavirus.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sudam Marndi apprised the meeting about the various steps taken by the state government to tackle disasters like Covid, Amphan, Bulbul and locust invasion.
Members of the Council of Ministers, Leader of the Opposition, MPs, and MLAs took part in the meeting through video-conferencing.