Odisha govt collaborates with RIMES for effective disaster management

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government on Friday signed a MoU with the Thailand-based Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES) for enhancing early warning system for effective management of disasters in the state.

The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) signed a MoU with RIMES for enhancing early warning system for effective management of all kinds of disasters in the state.

The MoU will help the state government to integrate new generation digital algorithm-based technologies and best practices from 48 RIMES member countries with OSDMA.

The Mou was signed in the presence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

This MoU enables for development and pilot implementation of decision support systems for automating risk assessment, advisory generation and dissemination, said Patnaik.

He said this will empower OSDMA in the assessment and management of risks from flood, tsunami, drought, heatwave, lightning and road accidents.

These tools shall be built with open-source software platforms and public domain datasets, with full involvement of OSDMA and its line departments and collaborating agencies.

Initially, the agreement will remain in force for five years with a cost involvement of about Rs 8 crores.

RIMES and OSDMA collaboration will contribute to global efforts targeted to substantially increase the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems as articulated in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

RIMES is a UN-registered international and inter-governmental institution, owned and managed by its 48 members and collaborating states for building capacities in the generation and application of user-relevant early warning information.