Finance
During a meeting today at Lok Seva Bhawan, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja assessed the situation in light of the ongoing heatwave conditions in several districts of the state during the current summer season.
An official press release states that the meeting’s main objectives were to prepare for, mitigate, and manage the 2025 heatwave.
A number of important officials attended the meeting, including Director General of Police Y.B. Khurania, Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary Anu Garg, Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue Department and Special Relief Commissioner Deoranjan Kumar Singh, as well as principal secretaries, commissioners, and senior officials from other departments involved.
A review of the actions done to handle the heatwave situation in the state was carried out in accordance with the decisions and instructions made during a meeting on March 18 that was headed by the Chief Minister and addressed this year’s heatwave. Singh, the Special Relief Commissioner, gave a thorough report on the measures implemented.
The efficiency of the guidelines provided to battle the heatwave should be periodically monitored by District Collectors, the Chief Secretary stressed. He assessed the situation at the district level, looked at the availability of water, especially drinking water, in various districts, and examined the steps taken to address drinking water shortages where they occur.
Instructions were provided to gather panchayat-level updates on a regular basis. District-level officials were directed to oversee the situation and manage heatwave conditions at the panchayat and block levels.
In particular, the Chief Secretary asked about the state of drinking water and heatwave control in districts like Bargarh, Sonepur, Sambalpur, Balangir, and Jharsuguda.
He oversaw rigorous compliance with the policies or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) put in place to deal with the heat wave. He recommended that all essential steps be taken in order to effectively manage the heatwave and achieve zero casualties.
District emergency officers were directed to provide District Collectors with regular status reports.
An evaluation of the heatwave conditions was given by the Bhubaneswar Regional Centre of the India Meteorological Department. It included observations for March, the actual scenario that was encountered, and the predicted weather for interior and coastal Odisha from April to June.
Several departments have given SOPs to districts about heatwave management. To provide a more streamlined and efficient information-sharing procedure for heatwave management, the Chief Secretary instructed the Special Relief Commissioner to gather all SOPs into a single document and send it to all departments and District Collectors.
Additionally, in collaboration with pertinent departments, he counseled the Information and Public Relations Department to take the required actions to raise public awareness of heatwave readiness through the
