Cyclone ‘Dana’: Odisha CM Makes Fresh Review Of Preparedness As Fire Service Deploys 182 Teams

Bhubaneswar: With severe cyclonic storm ‘Dana’ set to hit Odisha coast by Friday morning, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi chaired a fresh review meeting on Thursday to take stock of the situation and measures being taken to deal with the situation effectively.

The meeting, held at Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar, was attended among others by Revenue & Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, DGP Y B Khurania and top officials.

Sources said that the Chief Minister was briefed by the officials about the arrangements made in different districts to ensure the safety and security of people. Senior officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) also apprised the meeting about the latest movement of the cyclonic storm.

The Chief Minister was stated to have directed the officials to leave no stone unturned to ensure zero casualty during the cyclone and accord maximum attention to quick restoration of power supply and communication network in the aftermath of the landfall of Dana in case of any disruption. Relief and restoration work must be undertaken on war footing, he stressed.

The Odisha government has taken steps for evacuating over ten lakh people from vulnerable areas to relief shelters set up in different districts in view of cyclone Dana which is likely to make a landfall between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapada and Dhamra in Bhadrak district by Friday morning.

About 3.62 lakh people from 1,653 villages in 11 districts are likely to be affected by cyclonic storm Dana, Majhi had said, while stating that 100 per cent evacuation was to be completed before evening.

Notably, the Chief Minister had made a thorough review of the situation during a visit to the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) on Wednesday night. He told reporters later that the people need not panic at all as the government is fully prepared to tackle any eventuality and taking all necessary steps for their safety.

“You are in safe hands. There is no reason to panic as all departments and agencies concerned are ready to tackle the situation,” Majhi said, urging people to remain calm, safe and alert.

Stating that Ministers have been tasked with monitoring the situation, the CM said all of them have left for the districts they have been assigned with. Experienced officers have also been given responsibility, he said.

The Chief Minister said that the evacuation of people from vulnerable areas will continue and 90 per cent will be shifted to cyclone shelters by Thursday noon. Dry food and cooked food and all related arrangements have been made for the people in the cyclone shelters, he said.

While Kendrapada, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack and Puri districts are likely to bear the brunt of the cyclone, while the government is also ready for any change in the direction of the cyclonic storm.

Meanwhile, Fire Services Director General, Sudhanshu Sarangi said that they have a total of 182 teams which is nearly about 2000 people and they are fully geared up to deal with the cyclone.

“We are fully geared up for the cyclone. We have 182 teams of Fire and Rescue Services of Odisha which is nearly about 2000 people. We will cover all the 14 districts which will be affected…we have 20 teams of NDRF…we also have 400 personnel of State Disaster Force…we have mobilized some team from Forest department,” he said.