Odisha has achieved a crucial milestone in strengthening community-based disaster preparedness, with 100 coastal villages now declared Tsunami Ready under the UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme.
In 2024, the Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had envisioned making all tsunami-prone coastal villages of Odisha Tsunami Ready, with a clear focus on strengthening preparedness at the grassroots level. Working towards this vision, Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) has steadily expanded the UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme across the State’s six coastal districts. With 75 additional villages receiving Tsunami Ready recognition in 2026, taking the total to 100 villages, Odisha has achieved a significant milestone towards the larger goal of preparing all 381 tsunami-prone coastal villages and habitations in a phased manner. The achievement reflects the State Government’s sustained emphasis on scientific disaster preparedness, community participation and building resilient coastal communities.
The members of the National Tsunami Ready Board (NTRB), following their field verification of coastal villages on 26 and 27 September, interacted with the Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management, Suresh Pujari, and apprised him of their observations and findings.
During the interaction, Minister Pujari shared his words of wisdom and appreciation for the Board’s efforts and the communities’ preparedness, providing encouragement and guidance towards further strengthening tsunami resilience in the State. The interaction served as an important platform for sharing field-level experiences and reinforcing the collective commitment towards achieving the State’s vision of comprehensive coastal preparedness.
The field assessment also provided an opportunity for national experts and disaster management officials to appreciate Odisha’s institutional preparedness and the sustained efforts of OSDMA. The NTRB members highly appreciated the active participation of local communities, their awareness and knowledge about tsunami hazards, and their readiness to respond to a tsunami emergency. The Board also appreciated the systematic preparedness measures undertaken by OSDMA and the State’s continued efforts to translate scientific early-warning systems and disaster-management protocols into effective community-level preparedness.
A meeting of the National Tsunami Ready Board (NTRB) was held today, 28 September 2026, at the Convention Centre, Bhubaneswar, under the chairmanship of Dr. Balakrishnan Nair, Director, INCOIS, and Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, IAS, Managing Director, OSDMA. The meeting reviewed the field verification carried out by the Board across coastal villages in six districts.
The NTRB visited Nidhipada and Gudupahi in Balasore; Muladihi, Bhatapada, Amarnagar and Nuagaon in Bhadrak; Sailendrasahi and Bhateni in Kendrapada; Motto and Singharpal in Puri; and New Kirtipur (1008), Laxmipur, Noliasahi and Ramtara in Jagatsinghpur. During the field assessment, the Board members interacted with local communities and reviewed their awareness, preparedness and response mechanisms for tsunami hazards.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Kamal Lochan Mishra, Advisor, OSDMA; Susmita Behera, Executive Director, OSDMA; officials of OSDMA and scientists from INCOIS. Suci Dewi Anugrah, Chair, Working Group-3: Tsunami Ready Implementation, ICG/IOTWMS-UNESCO-IOC, joined the meeting virtually.
The National Tsunami Ready Board comprises Dr. Balakrishnan Nair, Director, INCOIS; Dhaval Pandya, IAS, Additional CEO, GSDMA; Cdr. P.K. Srivastava, Scientist G/Advisor, MoES; Dr. Sudheer Joseph, Group Director, INCOIS; Yashvantsingh Parmar, Senior Manager, GSDMA; and Janik Ram, Assistant Director (Administration), Andaman and Nicobar SDMA.
The UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme is a community performance-based initiative that promotes tsunami preparedness through collaboration among government authorities, scientific institutions, community leaders and emergency management agencies. It aims to create resilient communities capable of protecting life, livelihoods and property through awareness, preparedness and timely response. The programme is being implemented in 22 countries in the Indian Ocean Region, including India.
Odisha’s journey towards becoming a Tsunami Ready State began with the recognition of Venkatraipur (Boxipalli) in Ganjam district and Noliasahi in Jagatsinghpur district as Tsunami Ready villages in 2019. With this achievement, India became the first country in the Indian Ocean Region to implement the Tsunami Ready Programme, while Odisha became the first State to prepare communities under the programme. In 2024, another 24 villages in Odisha received Tsunami Ready recognition.
With the latest recognition of 75 additional coastal villages in 2026, the total number of Tsunami Ready villages in Odisha has reached 100. This achievement represents a significant stride towards the State’s larger goal of extending tsunami preparedness to all 381 tsunami-prone coastal villages and habitations across six coastal districts in a phased manner.
The achievement of 100 Tsunami Ready villages reflects Odisha’s people-centric disaster management approach, where scientific knowledge, institutional preparedness and community participation come together to build resilient coastal communities and strengthen the State’s capacity to respond effectively to tsunami hazards.
