24 villages in Odisha declared tsunami ready

24 coastal villages of Odisha have been declared tsunami ready i.e. ready to deal with tsunami. UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission has also recognized them as tsunami ready. On November 11, during the second Global Tsunami Symposium in Indonesia, UNESCO has issued its certificate. Let us know what does it mean and on what basis does one get this tag? What will be the benefit to UNESCO by doing this and what will change in the villages after this.

Ready to protect against natural disaster
Actually, villages of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Puri and Ganjam districts of Odisha have been declared tsunami ready. Apart from this, the certificate of tsunami ready has been renewed for two villages, Noliasahi of Jagatsinghpur district and Venkatraipur of Ganjam district. They were declared tsunami ready in the year 2020 itself. Declaring any village or place as tsunami ready means that it is ready to protect itself from this natural disaster. In case of a tsunami, relief and rescue operations can be carried out easily here.

What is its main objective?
Let us tell you that UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission is an organization dedicated to marine science under the United Nations. It was established in 1960 as an executive autonomous body of UNESCO. After the tsunami on 26 December 2004, the IOC helped in setting up the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS). Its main objective is to improve the preparedness of the communities living on the coasts to deal with emergencies during tsunamis. This will reduce the loss of life and property in case of a disaster.