Odisha plans to complete disaster alert project by March end

The Odisha government is planning to commission Early Warning Dissemination System (EWDS) in the coastal areas of six districts by the end of March.
The project aims at establishing a foolproof communication system for providing information about impending disasters, like cyclone and tsunami, to the local population, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi said.
The system, a part of World Bank-supported National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP), will ensure last mile connectivity in 22 blocks of six coastal districts - Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Puri and Ganjam - he said after reviewing the progress work.
"The total cost of the project is Rs 75 crore, of which about Rs 67 crore will come from NCRMP funds. The rest will be borne by the state government under State Disaster Response Fund," the SRC said yesterday after a meeting with the administration officials of the six districts.

The system will send disaster warnings through messages to all mobile phone subscribers in a particular locality that is likely to be affected by a disaster, Sethi said.
The alert siren system will cover 122 locations along the coast, including tourist spots, fish landing centres and coastal habitations.

"So far, 99 siren towers and 57 poles have been set up as part of the project. Three more towers are expected to be installed in the next two weeks," the SRC said.
All major equipment, except digital mobile radio items, has arrived, he said.
The licence for the digital mobile radio communication equipment from the Wireless Planning and Monitoring Wing, under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has been received and the items are likely to be delivered soon.