Bhubaneswar: The state government has decided to restructure the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) to shift focus from preparedness and disaster response to risk reduction and resilience, an official said Saturday.
In view of the increased frequency of disasters like cyclone, rainfall and flash floods, the Revenue and Disaster Management department Friday passed a resolution to shift the focus of Odisha State Disaster Management Authority to risk reduction and resilience instead of preparedness and disaster response, the official said.
“In the light of changing landscapes, it has become crucial to strengthen the organisational structure of OSDMA in line with national frameworks and guidelines and build its own capacity to move from mitigation, preparedness, response and reconstruction to disaster risk reduction and resilience in a holistic manner,” the resolution said.
According to the approved proposal, the OSDMA, which was created after the 1999 super cyclone that killed around 10,000 people in Odisha, will now have four divisions – general, capacity building, project and technology, and finance – with each division headed by an executive director.
The notification said that the executive director (general) and executive director (capacity building) will be an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) or Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer. The executive director (projects and technology) will be from the engineering department of the government of Odisha or on deputation from Telecom department, Government of India.
The executive director (finance) will be an Odisha Finance Service (OFS) officer.
Out of the total 102 present staff positions of OSDMA, 10 posts have been abolished and 37 posts have been created, the resolution said.
Odisha was the first state in the country to set up a disaster management authority after the 1999 super cyclone. The OSDMA was set up by the Naveen Patnaik government six years before the establishment of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
PTI