Odisha Disaster Management Authority
Agency overview
Formed1999
TypeAgency
JurisdictionGovernment of Odisha
HeadquartersRajiv Bhavan,Unit 5, Bhubaneswar, Odisha
Agency executive
  • Aditya Prasad Padhi, IAS, Chief Secretary, Govt of Odisha
Parent departmentDepartment of Revenue & Disaster Management (Odisha)
Websitewww.osdma.org

Odisha State Disaster Management Authority is an agency of the Department of Revenue & Disaster Management whose primary purpose is to carry out responses to natural or man-made disasters and for capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response.[1] It was established as the Odisha State Disaster Mitigation Authority by a resolution of the Department of Finance of the Government of Odisha on 28 December 1999, as a response to the death toll and damage caused by a 1999 supercyclone.[2][3] The chief secretary of Government of Odisha is the ex-officio chairperson of the governing body of the authority.[4]

History

Prior to establishment of the authority, emergency management in Odisha was not a specialised function, and was handled by the district administration. However, after the 1999 supercyclone this approach was found lacking. Due to lack of coordination on various organisations and departments, rescue and relief works were severely hampered, resulting in a death toll of about 10,000.[5] The Government of Odisha then created a comprehensive disaster response plan, including the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force as an agency of the Department of Revenue & Disaster Management making it the first and one of its kind disaster management and relief agency in the country. Its primary purpose was to carry out response to natural or man-made disasters and for capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response. It was later renamed to its present name.

Organisation

The authority is operationally organized into the following divisions:

  • Disaster Management Division
  • Projects Division
  • Finance division

Functions and responsibilities

As the apex body, the authority is mandated to carry out and plan for disaster management to ensure timely and effective response to disasters. To achieve this, it has the following responsibilities:

  • It carries out disaster mitigation activities such as mock drills[6] and evacuation in vulnerable areas.[7]
  • Carry out reconstruction activities while coordinating other departments.[8]
  • Work with aid agencies, United Nations agencies, international, national and state-level non-governmental organizations for disaster management activities[9][10]
  • Work with other state and national level relevant organizations for disaster management.
  • Prepare and issue guidelines for disaster management for local administrations and other organisations.
  • It also carries out preemptive disaster mitigation activities such as construction of cyclone shelters,[11] early warning systems[12] and preparedness drills[13]
  • In addition to the major natural disasters like cyclones, floods, and Earthquakes, the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority is also the primary organisation for capacity improvement to face events such as Lightning, heat wave, whirlwind, tornado, heavy rain, drowning, boat accident and snake bite.[14]

Programmes

The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority runs many programmes for disaster management:

  • National Programme for Capacity Building of Architects in Earthquake Risk Management
  • Disaster Risk Management Program
  • National Programme for Capacity Building of Engineers in Earthquake Risk Management
  • Building Early warning system such as cyclone and tsunami alert siren towers in coastal areas.[15][16]
  • Training a canine unit for rescue assistance.[17]

Awards

It was awarded the Skoch Award, 2018 for its work in disaster management.[18]

Disaster response

The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority has proved its efficacy with its commendable performance during various disasters hitting the state of Odisha. Some of the major response operations have been:

2005

  • Flood in Bhadrak and Jajpur districts, Odisha – 3–5 July 2005 –[19]

2009

  • Coromandel Express derailment.[20][21]
  • Odisha Floods – Oct 2009 - Relief and rescue .[22]

2011

  • Flood in Jajpur district, Odisha – Sep 2011 –[23]


2013

2014

  • Cyclone Hudhud – sent disaster response teams to help with post cyclone reconstruction[25]

2015

  • Nepal Earthquake - sent to help local authorities in relief and restoration operations.[26]

2018

2019

  • Cyclone Fani – evacuated about 1.2 million people to nearly 4000 cyclone shelters.[28]

2020

See also

References

  1. Babu, Suresh Chandra; Blom, Sylvia (30 April 2014). Capacity development for resilient food systems: Issues, approaches, and knowledge gaps. Intl Food Policy Res Inst. pp. 18–. GGKEY:CE1PADH0Y0N.
  2. Nibedita S. Ray-Bennett (4 September 2017). Avoidable Deaths: A Systems Failure Approach to Disaster Risk Management. Springer. pp. 13–. ISBN 978-3-319-66951-9.
  3. "World Bank Board Approves $153 Million Support to Odisha Disaster Recovery Project". World Bank. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  4. R. Subramanian. Disaster Management. Vikas Publishing House. pp. 259–260. ISBN 978-93-5271-870-2.
  5. "Learning from Deaths in Disasters: The Case of Odisha, India". Middle East Institute. 5 March 2017. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  6. "Odisha State Disaster Management Authority holds mock drills simultaniously [sic] across state". 21 June 2018. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  7. "World Bank praises India's Cyclone Phailin evacuation efforts". LiveMint. 18 October 2013. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  8. "Government of India and World Bank Sign $153 Million Agreement for Odisha Disaster Recovery Project". World Bank. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  9. Pioneer, The. "UN hails State Govt's evacuation efforts". The Pioneer.
  10. "PSUs mobilise aid for Odisha's cyclone-hit areas". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  11. "IIT Kharagpur shelters thousands in Odisha amid cyclone Fani". India Today. 6 May 2019. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  12. "Disaster warning system for Odisha by March". The Hindu. 18 January 2018 via www.thehindu.com.
  13. "Tsunami drill in coastal zones". www.telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  14. "Odisha Govt. Puts eight disasters under State response fund". The Hindu. 23 April 2015.
  15. "Odisha to set up 122 cyclone, Tsunami alert siren towers - Bhubaneswar News". The Times of India. 5 August 2016. Archived from the original on 19 September 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  16. "Odisha launches disaster alert system for its coast". The Hindu. 30 October 2018.
  17. "Meet the dogs who save lives". Telegraph India. 30 October 2016. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  18. "OSDMA bags Skoch Award". Business Standard News. Press Trust of India. 2 March 2019. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  19. "India: Orissa floods situation report, 4 Jul 2005 - India". ReliefWeb. 4 July 2005. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  20. "Coromandel Express death toll mounts to 16; probe ordered - India News". The Times of India. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  21. "Orissa mishap, Railways says only nine died". Rediff.com. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  22. "13 lakh affected by floods in AP". Deccan Herald. 5 October 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  23. "Orissa floods: Nearly 800 villages marooned". NDTV.com. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  24. "World Bank praises India's Phailin evacuation efforts". The Hindu. 18 October 2013. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  25. "Odisha returns Andhra's favour". Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  26. "Nepal earthquake: Odisha government announces Rs 5 crore for victims". The Economic Times. 30 April 2015. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  27. "Know why Titli is a rarest of rare cyclone". Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  28. "Fani's hard lesson on resilient infrastructure". Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.