Orissa govt to update relief code

Bhubaneshwar: In a move aimed at boosting the disaster preparedness activities and including more disasters in the recognised list of disasters for extending compensation, the State Government has decided to update the Orissa Relief Code of 1980.

The draft code will be prepared soon for clearance. It was last updated in 1996. Disaster management committees in the district and block-level would be involved in a big way under the new code. The new recognised list of disasters will include tsunami, lightning and earthquake among others.

OSDMA has identified about 328 places along the coastal place in Orissa,which are prone to tsunami, said OSDMA project coordinator Gyana Ranjan Das, adding, the new relief code is expected to be implemented by the year-end.

Tsunami vulnerability mapping of six coastal districts has also been initiated on GIS platform and preparedness programme will be taken up in 328 villages in six coastal districts with the support of UNDP.

Geospatial industry will be bigger than IT and telecom: Kapil Sibal
Indian geospatial industry will be bigger than IT and telecom industry,” declared Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences. Participating as the chief guest at a splendid event organsied by Geospatial Today, the minister unveiled the Geospatial Roadmap of India with the presentation ceremony of the Indian Geospatial Awards, the release of the Indian Geospatial Industry Survey 2008 Report and the Geospatial Round Table.

Addressing the elite gathering which comprised of the who’s who of the Indian geospatial industry after releasing the Indian Geospatial Industry Survey 2008 Report, Kapil Sibal enumerated on the enormous potential the technology holds in bringing about radical changes and development in the country. He said the industry’s scope is so vast that it will soon surpass mega industries like IT and telecom, he quipped.

He cited the recent initiative by the government to develop a decision support system for farm loan waiver using geospatial technologies announced by the Union government and said if this technology reaches out to the farmers, it can empower them with all the information they need about the type of soil, nutrients, dryness, land use and help counsel the farmers on the choice of the crop depending upon the agro climatic conditions prevailing in the region.