With some portion of Odisha coast identified tsunami prone, a mock drill was conducted today in 328 villages to create awareness about it among the locals.
The villages are located with 1.5 km of the coastline in 22 blocks spread in the coastal districts of Balasore,Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Ganjam.
The exercise was carried out to generate public awareness about Tsunami preparedness and to strengthen disaster preparedness, special relief commissioner (SRC) office sources said.
The drill, which lasted between 9.30 AM to 1.30 PM, was part of the nationwide one conducted by Indian Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).
Senior officers from Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, NDRF and SRC Office coordinated the exercise from the State Emergency Operation Centre in the office of the Special Relief Commissioner here.
Emergency operation centres at district and block levels in the six districts were involved along with district level officials. Response team of NDRF, ODRAF and Fire Service participated in this mock exercise.
"The mock drill will help the people living in tsunami prone areas and government officials at different levels to remain better prepared to handle any tsunami threat in future," said deputy relief commissioner P R Mohapatra.
