In view of the threat of cyclone Hudhud, the Baleswar district administration on Wednesday held a meeting to prepare for such an eventuality.
The meeting, presided over by district Collector Sanatan Mallick, was attended by SP Awinash Kumar, ADM Akshay Mohanty, Baleswar Sub-Collector Indramani Nayak, Nilgiri Sub-Collector Srihari Kumar Nayak, DRDA Project Director Abdul Alim Khan, CDMO Anup Ghosh and heads of several line departments.
The Collector asked all the departments and BDOs and tehsildars to stay alert. leave for the all Government personnel was cancelled on emergency ground and they were asked to stay prepared to meet any kind of eventuality.
The officers were also asked to store adequate amounts of food materials, drinking water pouches, medicines, ORS packets, halogen tablets and cattle fodders.
However, it was learnt that the district administration is hardly prepared to meet the cyclone threat as several key officers including the Collector, the SP, the Nilgiri Sub-Collector and the DRDA PD are new to the district. The officers at the ground level are hardly aware of the number of cyclone relief centres, the number of power and country boats in various blocks and their positions.
Generators of several cyclones relief centres are out of order. A boat under the SRC in Baliapal block is unserviceable for mechanical faults. The rainfall measuring gauges in Bahanaga and Baliapal are defunct. Similarly, there is an acute shortage of ASVs and only 10 vials are available in the District Headquarters Hospital. While the NDRF team has been in position at Baleswar along with its six boats and equipments, the ODRAF teams would arrive in the district as per requirement, it was informed at the meeting.