(Tsunami representational image. Image credit: Adobe stock)
Two coastal villages Venkatraipur (Boxipalli) village of Rangeilunda block in Ganjam district and Noliasahi village of Ersama block in Jagatsinghpur district have been recognised as being “Tsunami Ready” by UNESCO for their overall preparedness to face the Tsunami disaster.
This is the first in the Indian Ocean region to achieve the honour from the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.
In a virtual event, the certificate of recognition will be handed over to the communities of Venkatraipur and Noliasahi in a virtual event scheduled to be held on August 7.The virtual event will be organised by the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS) Secretariat in Perth, Australia and the Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Centre (IOTIC) in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Their Board had visited these two Odisha villages inDecember 2019. They evaluated the readiness criteria and upon being satisfied had recommended UNESCO-IOC to accord the tag.
OSDMA has implemented the Tsunami Ready programme in the state. Pradeep Jena, Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) Managing Director will receive the certificate from UNESCO.