BHUBANESWAR : As temperature soars across Odisha, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday asked district collectors and senior officials to take all measures to mitigate the impact of extreme heat and achieve the goal of ‘zero casualty’.
Chairing a high-level meeting at the Lok Seva Bhawan to review the state’s preparedness for the prevailing heatwave conditions, Majhi directed officials to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the government.
Stating that heatwave has arrived earlier than expected this year, the CM asked officials to issue guidelines for morning classes in schools, and keep the class timings for anganwadi centres from 7 am to 9 am to avoid peak heat. He also ordered to impose restriction on outdoor work from 11 am to 3 pm for labourers in both government and private sectors.
Majhi directed officials to ensure installation and repair of over 17,000 tubewells within a week to address water shortage. To protect citizens, he ordered provisioning of tents and water huts at urban traffic intersections and rural bus stands. He stressed on holding public awareness campaigns through TV, radio, newspapers, and social media to educate people on precautions for heatwave.
He issued strict orders to prevent power outages from 11 am to 5 pm and 9 pm to 6 am. There should be no unscheduled power cuts and outages. The Energy department should take steps to maintain uninterrupted electricity supply, he said.
Majhi directed the fire services wing to remain on high alert to tackle fire incidents and emergencies due to summer heat. He asked collectors to conduct on-ground inspections and visit rural areas to address summer-related challenges on priority.
He also directed the district collectors to change the grievance hearing time to the morning hours and hold it from 7 am to 10 am. The meeting was attended by Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari, chief secretary Manoj Ahuja, and SRC Deo Ranjan Singh.