Bhubaneswar: Automated weather stations will be installed in all the 314 blocks and automated rain gauges in most of the identified gram panchayats for monitoring of drought and crop insurance in Odisha.

The installation will be carried out by the state drought monitoring cell in Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, said its managing director Bishnupada Sethi.

The decision was taken at the authority's governing body meeting on January 18.

The decision assumes significance in view of the fact that the state experiences drought in almost every year.

On October 25, the state government declared that 3.15 lakh hectares in 70 blocks of 15 districts had been affected by drought.

Of the 15 districts, Balangir, Bargarh, Dhenkanal, Boudh and Nuapada are most affected. Balangir headed the list with 14 blocks followed by Bargarh with 10 blocks affected by drought, disaster management minister Maheswar Mohanty had said.

The governing body also discussed the authority's various activities such as disaster preparedness, capacity building of various stakeholders - the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, fire Service and civil defence - and the installation of early warning dissemination system.

To protect human lives and livestock in the coastal areas from tsunami and cyclone, one project named early warning dissemination system was almost at the final stage and targeted to be completed by March, the meeting was informed.

The newly formed 10 ODRAF units will be provided with state of the art search and rescue equipment, and all the fire stations will be upgraded.

In Jagatsinghpur and Puri districts, 400 identified community volunteers will be trained and equipped under aapada mitra (friend during disaster ) scheme of the National Disaster Management Authority.

One dedicated institute for imparting training will be established at Gothapatna on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar for effective capacity building of all the stakeholders and carrying out research activities for disaster management.

It was decided that the construction of cyclone shelters and flood shelters under funding from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, state plan and the World Bank would be expedited and targeted to be completed within the stipulated time frame.