Thursday, October 17, 2013

UN praise for Odisha disaster management

BHUBANESWAR: The United Nations on Tuesday appreciated the state government's preparedness in dealing with the 'very very severe' cyclone Phailin, saying it would highlight the efforts as a successful case study globally.

Terming the evacuation of nearly one million people, which ensured minimal loss of human lives, a 'landmark success story', special representative of the UN secretary general for disaster risk reduction Margareta Wahlstrom told TOI, "We are very impressed. We have plans to use it as a model for other cities and countries to follow as part of our global efforts on disaster risk reduction."

The state government has confirmed 21 deaths due to the cyclone and nine more casualties in the subsequent flood. In comparison, over 10,000 were killed in the super cyclone that ravaged the state in October 1999.

In an interview over phone from Geneva, Wahlstorm said she and her colleagues in the UN planned to visit Odisha in a month or six weeks to document the process that the state government has followed.

Wahlstorm spoke to chief minister Naveen Patnaik over the phone and lauded the efforts of the state government and others for effective management of the calamity.

"Odisha's handling of the very severe cyclone will be a landmark success story in disaster management," she said, according an official in the chief minister's office here.

The state government, which had targeted zero casualties, had said it had evacuated over nine lakh people from along the coast before the cyclone hit Gopalpur on Saturday evening.

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