Special Cell to be set up for Drought management in Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Feb 19:

Odisha government has decided set up a special cell under Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) for drought management in the state.

This was decided at OSDMA Management Council meeting chaired by Odisha Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi yesterday.

Initially, Rs 94 crore will be allocated for the project, official sources said.

Padhi directed to make the special cell more reliable and error free by assessing drought estimate system and method.

He also suggested the officials for making it technically strong to deal with the drought crisis.

There will be necessary hardware and software system for accurate data collection and data analysis in special drought cell in OSDMA, said Special Relief Commissioner Pradipta Mohapatra.

Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan suggested to launch particular schemes for improvement in service in field of natural disaster management.

The Odisha government also decided to install automatic rain gauge stations and automatic weather tools at the space around 25 square km in different locations of the State to get accurate data about rainfall, moisture of soil and crops related climate.

Besides, target has been set to complete 166 under construction floods and cyclone shelters by May this year, sources said.