Heat Wave Warning: Drinking Water For All, Zero Casualties On Odisha Govt’s Agenda

Bhubaneswar: Acting on the heat wave warning by India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Odisha government has stepped up measures to ensure zero casualties in the state.

Briefing the media on Thursday, Deputy Relief Commissioner (DRC) Prabhat Mohapatra said for the safety of labourers who work under direct sun, Labour and Employees’ State Insurance department will decide the working hours.

“Apart from this, the School and Mass Education Department will also take specific steps for school children. The department should ensure that the parents and guardians send their wards to schools with water bottles and direct the school authorities to make provisions for adequate supply of drinking water,” Mohapatra said.

He further said the government will identify villages having acute drinking water scarcity and make necessary provisions for immediate supply of water.

Referring to the heat wave deaths in the state, the DRC said a total of 2042 people had died in 1998. However, the number of deaths has come down in the subsequent years (54 in 2016, 45 in 2017, 60 in 2018, 50 in 2019 and 12 in 2020) due to massive awareness drive by the state government.

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