Odisha State Disaster Management Authority
Odisha State Disaster Management Authority is an agency of the Department of Revenue & Disaster Management whose primary purpose is to carry out responses to natural or man-made disasters and for capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response. It was established as the Odisha State Disaster Mitigation Authority by a resolution of the Department of Finance of the Government of Odisha on 28 December 1999, as a response to the death toll and damage caused by a 1999 supercyclone. The chief secretary of Government of Odisha is the ex-officio chairperson of the governing  body of the authority. History. Prior to establishment of the authority, emergency management in Odisha was not a specialised function, and was handled by the district administration. However, after the 1999 supercyclone this approach was found lacking. Due to lack of coordination on various organisations and departments, rescue and relief works were severely hampered, resulting in a death toll of about 10,000. The Government of Odisha then created a comprehensive disaster response plan, including the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force as an agency of the Department of Revenue & Disaster Management making it the first and one of its kind disaster  management and relief agency in the country. Its primary purpose was to carry out response to natural or man-made disasters and for capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response. It was later renamed to its present name. Organisation. The authority is operationally organized into the following divisions: Functions and responsibilities. As the apex body, the authority is mandated to carry out and plan for disaster management to ensure timely and effective response to disasters. To achieve this, it has the following responsibilities: Programmes. The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority runs many programmes for disaster management: Awards. It was  awarded the Skoch Award, 2018 for its work in disaster management. Disaster response. The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority has proved its efficacy with its commendable performance during various disasters hitting the state of Odisha. Some of the major response operations have been: 2005 2009 2011 2013 2014 2015 2018 2019 2020