Orissa to build 164 cyclone shelters by March 2011

BHUBANESWAR - Orissa has decided to built about 164 new cyclone shelters by March next year as a part of its cyclone and flood risk mitigation measures, an official said Thursday.

The coastal belt of the state is prone to cyclones as well as storm induced flooding and surges. Nearly 10,000 people had died in a devastating super-cyclone that hit state’s coastal districts in October 1999.

“The state government has already built 200 multipurpose cyclone shelters in various places of its coastal districts after the super cyclone of 1999,” a senior official of the state revenue department told IANS.

“The government has also initiated steps to build 164 more such shelters in the state,” the official said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday reviewed state’s disaster preparedness and ordered the authorities to complete the construction of all the shelters by March 2011, the official added.

Patnaik has sanctioned Rs.28.49 crore from his relief funds for the project, he said adding that the shelters are being constructed at various places under the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project and Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme.