Odishatv Bureau
Visakhapatnam: The Centre has proposed to construct 140 cyclone shelters in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and another 155 in Odisha, a member of National Disaster Management Authority (NMDA) said on Tuesday.
 
The shelters will be constructed under the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP), NDMA member V K Duggal said at a press conference here.
 
He said the union government has sanctioned twomajor projects under NCRMP, costing Rs 1,500 crore, to address cyclone-related risks in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
 
He said the Centre has sanctioned Rs 647 crore to construct 140 cyclone shelters in nine coastal districts - Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhaptnam, East and West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Nellore and Prakasam.
 
Duggal said the Centre has sanctioned another Rs 5 crore for embankment works in Krishna and Prakasham.
 
The government plans to construct 155 cyclone shelters in Odisha's coastal districts to address cyclone-related risk in the eastern state, the NDMA member said.
 
He expressed the hope thatconstruction of all the shelters would be competed by June 2015.
 
K M Singh, another NMDA member and in-charge of National Disaster Rescue Force, said the NMDA at present has 10 battalions with1,100 trained personnel in each of them.
 
He said these personnel have been trained according to international standards to deal with disasters.
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