Managing COVID-19: The Odisha Model

On May 3, 2019, Super Cyclone Fani struck the eastern coast with wind speeds reaching 205 kilometers an hour. The Government of Odisha (GoO) used the ‘zero casualty’ policy for natural disasters to deal with the crisis. Under the ‘zero casualty’ policy, the GoO evacuated 1.2 million people in less than 48 hours, and set up more than 15,000 free kitchen camps to serve 2.6 million affected people overnight with the help of more than 45,000 volunteers 2,000 emergency workers, 100,000 officials, youth clubs, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) , Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) , and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) . The government took the help of the ODRAF to conduct rescue operations and distribute relief. A total of 450 cyclone shelters were created and each shelter had a maintenance committee where youngsters were involved and were trained in search and rescue, first aid medical attention, and providing cyclone warnings. ..