Bhubaneswar: UN to highlight Odisha’s efforts in dealing with cyclone Phailin as a successful case study globally. On Monday special representative of the UN secretary general for disaster risk reduction Margareta Wahlstrom spoke to Odisha Chief Minisrer Naveen Patnaik today over phone and appreciated effective handling of cyclone Phailin. Wahlstrom said that we have plans to use it as a model for other cities and countries to follow as part of our global efforts on disaster risk reduction. UN delegation to visit soon to document the process that the state government has followed. The government swung into action soon after weather experts on October 8 confirmed that the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal was turning into a cyclonic storm and was likely to hit the state’s coast four days later. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik cancelled the Durga Puja vacation of all state government employees and put them on high alert, with special focus on the 14 coastal districts. CM Patnaik cancelled his own scheduled trip to Delhi and called officials from districts to assist the special relief commissioner and set up his war room from where the cyclone situation was monitored round the clock. He efficiently marshalled his resources and readied the entire government machinery to take on Phailin. CM Patnaik had also alert the Centre about the cyclone and sought the assistance of armed forces by writing letters to defence minister A.K. Antony and home minister Sushilkumar Shinde. It may be noted that the state government, which fixed the target of “Zero Casualty” during the cyclone, had evacuated as many as 9, 83,553 people from the coast. Chief Minister Patnaik had expressed satisfaction over proper handling of the cyclone and said, “We have been successful in saving and protecting precious lives.” While as many as 9,885 people had died in the super cyclone which hit Odisha coast in 1999, this time the casualty figure was confined to 21.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 10:13:52 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015