Odisha Govt to spend ₹200 crore on urban flood prevention

BHUBANESWAR, Odisha: The new Chief Minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi, held a meeting where he directed the city authorities to chart a plan for managing urban flooding in the state. The state government has allocated a budget of ₹200 crore for urban flood management.

The newly sworn-in Chief Minister was chairing a state-level natural disaster meeting in the Lok Sewa Bhawan. In the meeting, he said that the government is working on a long-term goal, with the help of the IIT Delhi, to improve the flood management capacity of the urban areas in Odisha, including Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. CM Majhi also spoke about urban stormwater drains and asked the Department of Urban Development to ensure they are de-silted.

The Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), the first state-level disaster response force in India, garnered praise from the Chief Minister. He said the state home department will increase the number of units of ODRAF from 20 to 30. Similarly, the government will also improve the capacity of the Department of Fire Services in Odisha, for which ₹394 crore will be spent from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

The two Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha, Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, and Pravati Parida, Prithivi Harichandan, Minister for Law, Suresh Pujari, Minister for Disaster Management, along with other ministers and secretaries were present in the state-level meeting.