BHUBANESWAR: Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Bijoyshree Routray on Monday informed the Assembly that the State Government has initiated several measures for effective management of natural calamities.
Replying to a question from Ashwini Kumar Patra (BJD), the Minister said a decision has been taken to increase Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force units in the State from 10 to 20 to make it more effective.
Three more Doppler radars will be set up in the State at Gopalpur, Balasore and Sambalpur for early warning of natural calamities. One Doppler radar has already been operationalised at Paradip, he said. The Government is also in contact with several international weather forecasting agencies which can provide information on natural calamities, he said.
In response to a supplementary, the Minister said the Health Department has set up a special cell to deal with sunstroke cases.
The Government came in for sharp criticism from Taraprasad Bahinipati (Cong) for its failure in reconstruction of houses damaged during cyclone Hudhud in Koraput and Nabarangpur districts. The Minister, however, said assistance has been provided to cyclone-affected people by the Government.