BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) on Tuesday conducted mock exercises on flood and cyclone management across the State to test the preparedness at different levels and strengthen the disaster management capabilities of different stakeholders. As part of the programme, a dummy warning message was sent by Regional office of India Meteorological Department (IMD) to the State Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) functioning in the office of Special Relief Commissioner (SRC).
The message was in turn forwarded to all district EOCs which immediately disseminated the same among other offices and to the multi-purpose cyclone/flood shelter management and maintenance committees. Mock drill was conducted at 552 multi-purpose cyclone shelters and 288 multi-purpose flood shelters constructed in 25 districts for providing shelter to people to be affected by disasters like cyclone and flood. Members of shelter management and maintenance committees and the local community members participated in the drill.
The task-forces constituted at the shelter level displayed the search and rescue operations besides first-aid techniques. ODRAF, NDRF and Fire Service personnel also took part in the drill and supervised the mock exercises by task-force members. SRC Bishnupada Sethi said the drill will certainly help efficient management of disasters at different levels. Representatives from the block and tahasil level, local voluntary organisations, PRI members and locals also attended. Discussions on management of disasters and awareness rally were also held at many places.