Meet on disaster management: Officials asked to go for palm, mangrove plantation drives

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government has asked its Agriculture and Forest departments to go for a massive mangrove and palm tree plantation drive in areas which are vulnerable to natural calamities like cyclones.

Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena issued a direction to officials of the Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment (A&FE) and the Forest, Environment & Climate Change (FE&CC) departments to take such an initiative.

During a meeting of the State executive committee on disaster management on Wednesday, he advised the two departments to take up more and more palm tree and mangrove plantations in all areas prone to cyclones and lightning.

At least 2,058 people were killed due to lightning in Odisha in the last five years from 2018-19, officials said.

The Chief Secretary has advised the officials to plant mangroves to protect the coastline from cyclones. Mangrove trees help build coastal resilience as it is an effective natural safeguard against cyclones, he said. Jena also emphasised the procurement of search and rescue equipment, accessories and vehicles for Odisha Fire and Emergency services.

An amount of Rs 159.02 crore has already been released as against the proposal of Rs 240.33 crore for the purpose.

Under the capacity building measures, an amount of Rs 813.65 crore has been released to Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) and departments of Forest, Housing and Urban Development, Home and Panchayati Raj.

The Works department has submitted a proposal, seeking funds of Rs 81.28 crore for the construction of eight flood-resilient roads in Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Sambalpur and Kalahandi districts..

The OSDMA has placed a non-structural lightning mitigation proposal for the implementation of a lightning forecast system in collaboration with Earth Network and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune through ‘Satark’ app for three years starting from 2023-24, the officials said.

The OSDMA has submitted another proposal to the government seeking Rs 13.21 lakh for the implementation of Indian Ocean Tsunami Ready (IOTR) programme in 24 identified tsunami-prone villages of six coastal districts of Odisha for obtaining certification from Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.