Cyclone Yaas: Odisha CM asks officials to prevent Covid at shelters

With Odisha bracing up for cyclonic storm Yaas amid Covid-19 pandemic, chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday directed officials to be careful and ensure that infection is not spread due to crowding at cyclone shelters.

Directing the officials to take steps to protect the lives of the people Patnaik said, "For every disaster management, our sole motto is 'All lives are precious.' Therefore in this situation our most important work is to relocate people living in low-lying and vulnerable areas to the safe places." He asked the District Collectors and SPs to supervise the operation.

Patnaik also directed Chief Secretary to regularly monitor cyclone preparedness and accordingly advise the district administration.

The Chief Minister also suggested that the disaster management team ODRAF, NDRF, Road Clearing Machines, and all the necessary equipment for rescue operations be prepared in all the important places in view of the storm.

"It's important to clear the road as soon as possible after the storm," Patnaik said.

The Chief Minister suggested that special attention should be paid to oxygen supply at this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Patnaik directed that special measures should be taken to ensure an uninterrupted supply of Medical Oxygen within and outside the state during the Cyclonic storm.

"Odisha has expertise in disaster management and we are facing cyclonic storms every year, The situation is further complicated due to COVID epidemic, in view of the current situation the administration needs to be fully prepared."

Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Jena informed that "All sorts of preparations have been made to deal Cyclonic Situation. 22 NDRF, 66 ODRAF teams and 177 fire service teams are ready for the rescue operation. Multi-purpose shelters have also been identified.

The district collectors of Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, and Jagatsinghpur informed about their preparations. They said as many as 1,223 shelters have been identified in Balasore, 700 in Bhadrak, 970 in Kendrapara, and 223 shelters in Jagatsinghpur district.