BHUBANESWAR : Taking disaster management education ahead, Utkal University has come out with illustrative booklets for rural school students at elementary level to make them understand natural calamities in a simplified manner. The booklets were launched on Sunday on the occasion of World Drowning Prevention Day.
Among the eight State-specific natural disasters - lightning, whirlwind, tornado, heavy rain, sunstroke, boat accident, drowning, and snakebite - the booklets have been prepared on drowning. The university has collaborated with Odisha State Disaster Management Authority and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force for the booklets which have been developed with funds under phase 2 of Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) project.
“As a part of Utkal’s community linkage and rural outreach programme, the university plans to impart water safety and safe rescue skills to the students of the elementary stage with the help of OSDMA and ODRAF,” said Prof Sabita Acharya, Vice- Chancellor, Utkal University.
The booklets will be distributed free of cost among students of rural areas of the State. She said with drowning being one of the major calamities that people of all age groups especially children face in day-to-day life due to lack of awareness and negligence, these booklets have been designed to make it interesting for students to read them. Subsequently, booklets in other disasters will be prepared for the students.