While the Odisha Disaster Preparedness Day was observed on October 29, people at the helm of affairs remembered BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani fondly as way back in 2002 as Deputy Prime Minister Advani had advised Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to do so and it is being religiously following since then.
On October 17, 2002, Advani wrote a letter to Patnaik reminding him of October 29, the day the Super Cyclone struck and devastated vast parts of Odisha.
He had emphasised the glaring need for generating awareness and ensuring disaster mitigation in vulnerable areas with basic precautionary measures to minimise the impact of disasters.
The Union Government has been observing October 2 as the National Day for Disaster Reduction to use the fortnight preceding this day for carrying out disaster awareness campaigns all over the country.
Advani, who was the Union Home Minister, was instrumental in organising a number of awareness campaigns and several other activities at the Centre and had recommended similar activities in the States, said a senior official in the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA).