Disaster relief and rescue will receive a boost with Odisha Government on Wednesday giving a go ahead for raising 10 more units of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF).
Chairing the Executive Committee of State Disaster Management Authority, Chief Secretary AP Padhi directed that the 10 units will draw manpower from Odisha State Armed Police and India Reserve Battalion (IRB).
Padhi directed DGP KB Singh to identify 500 personnel who will be trained and inducted into the 10 units by April. These personnel, however, will remain in law and order duty till they get a call for rescue and relief operations.
Currently, the ODRAF has a total manpower of 410 personnel forming 10 units which are stationed at different places. The ODRAF remains under the control of Special Relief Commissioner (SRC).
The SRC office has been writing to the State Police for quite some time in the past for identifying 500 personnel to form the new teams but the latter wanted that new posts be created so that exclusive ODRAF units can be founded.
However, the Finance Department was reluctant to create 500 new posts given the financial burden it would cause. It was also of the view that the ODRAF units are not engaged in disaster rescue and relief work round the year.
The meeting also decided that alert towers could be created at 122 locations across 22 districts of the State for cyclone and tsunami warning. For this, a budgetary provision of `37 core has been made.
The alert towers, sources said, would be automatic and raise alarm in case a cyclone and tsunami alert is issued. The system is based on the existing alert towers created in Andaman and Nicobar Islands by Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).
The alert towers to be set up in Odisha are also proposed to be directly connected to INCOIS which issues tsunami and cyclone alerts. Since the alert would be issued centrally, it would save time which is lost during a multi-structure warning system. This is targeted to be put in place before the monsoon.
Similarly, last mile connectivity will be established in 22 blocks in six districts in the first phase.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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