24 coastal villages in Odisha recognised by UNESCO as 'Tsunami Ready'

Twenty-four coastal villages in Odisha were recognised by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO as ‘Tsunami Ready’.

The recognition was given during the 2nd Global Tsunami Symposium held in Indonesia on November 11, a statement said.

These villages are located in Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Ganjam districts, it said.

Besides, the Tsunami Ready Recognition Certificates were renewed for two villages in the state. These villages are Noliasahi in Jagatsinghpur district and Venkatraipur in Ganjam district. They were recognised as Tsunami Ready in 2020.

Various activities, including training of stakeholders, community awareness programmes, preparation of tsunami management plans, conducting mock drills and identification of evacuation routes, were done in these 24 tsunami-prone villages, the statement said.

Members of the National Tsunami Ready Recognition Board, comprising scientists of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services and officers of NDMA, visited these coastal villages for verification of the 12 indicators on which they were adjudged in September.

“The NTRB members after verification of the indicators recommended IOC-UNESCO for recognising the communities of these 26 coastal villages of Odisha as Tsunami Ready Communities,” the statement said.

The government has identified 381 villages in the state as tsunami-prone. The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) was working to make the coastal communities of all tsunami-prone habitation as ‘Tsunami Ready’, officials said.