Odisha braces for monsoon; asks dists to send preparedness report in 10 days

Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the onset of the monsoon in Odisha, the administrations of all districts were today asked to submit final report about their preparedness in the next 10 days.

Talking to media persons after a pre-monsoon preparatory meeting, attended by ADMs and emergency officers of all the districts, ODRAF and Fire Brigade officials, Special Relief Commissioner Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra said, “We were taking stock of the preparedness for the monsoon in all 30 districts of the state. We have asked the district administrations to see If there are any loopholes in preparedness and report us in 10 days after making the proper arrangements.”

“There were 34 items in the agenda discussed at the meeting," he added.

The State Fire department was asked to keep all 292 fire stations in the state on alert 24X7 to face any eventuality.

On the Fire Department’s preparedness, Sukant Kumar Sethi, Chief Fire Officer, said, “All fire stations will be on alert with their equipment ready.”

Satyajit Mohanty, Additional DGP (HQ), said, “We are adding 10 more ODRAF units to the 10 existing units thereby ensuring deployment of one dedicated unit for one or two districts.”

Meanwhile, the Regional Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar forecast that monsoon rains will occur in Odisha a few days after it hits Kerala in the next 3-4 days.

Pre-monsoon rains have already started in Bhubaneswar and interior parts of the State on Friday. The capital city recorded 60 mm of rains today.