1.Single button from a control room in State capital will activate siren across 122 towers by July.
From July, Odisha can warn the population residing along its 480km long coastline by pressing one single button from a control room in the State capital in the event of the occurrence of natural disasters like a cyclone or tsunami.
The government is all set to commission the ambitious Early Warning Dissemination System (EWDS) that would enable loud sirens, going off simultaneously from towers at 122 locations by July.
Odisha is the first state in India that has developed an automatic public address system that can be activated along its entire coastline.
Key Factors:
ü The warning can be circulated just by the press of a button from the control room in the State capital in the event of occurrence of natural disasters.
ü It would trigger loud sirens simultaneously from 122 towers at various locations across the state, including tourist destinations, fish landing centres and coastal habitations.
ü The sound eliminating from the towers can be heard in localities up to a radius of 1.5 km.
ü The towers will be installed in 22 blocks under six coastal districts such as Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Puri and Ganjam.
ü The EWDS comprises of Satellite-Based Mobile Data Voice Terminals (SBMDVT), Digital Mobile Radio (DMR), Mass Messaging System (MMS) and Universal Communication Interface (UCI) for inter-operability among different communication technologies.
ü The project at an estimated cost of Rs 82 crore will be implemented with assistance from the World Bank.
ü The EWDS will help the people to move to safer places before government agencies commenced evacuation.
Reportedly, Andhra Pradesh is also developing such a system to alert the people in case of natural calamities.
2. Vizianagaram wins MGNREGA Award.
Vizianagaram wins MGNREGA award The Ministry of Rural Development has selected Vizianagaram as one among the 17 districts for MGNREGA annual award.
The award will be given to Vizianagaram for its effective implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act during the time period 2015-16.
The district programme coordinator and District Collector would be presented the award at the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Sammelan to be held in New Delhi.
The district has been chosen after the field verification carried out by the selection committee.
The district was known to have generated works for 3,61,668 households in 2015-16 and disbursed INR 483.42 crore as wages to the workers with an average wage of INR 106.
The works carried out under NREGA in the district include 5,000 farm ponds, 240 rain water harvesting structures, and 440 water shed works, and de-siltation of 3,427 minor irrigation tanks. Vizianagaram is a district in the state of Andhra Pradesh.