Government Institutes

The Government of India have adopted mitigation and prevention as essential components of their development strategy. The Tenth Five Year Plan document has a detailed chapter on Disaster Management. The plan emphasizes the fact that development cannot be sustainable without mitigation being built into developmental process. Each State is supposed to prepare a plan scheme for disaster mitigation in accordance with the approach outlined in the plan. In brief, mitigation is being institutionalized into developmental planning.

The India Meteorological Department was established in 1875. It is the National Meteorological Service of the country and the principal government agency in all matters relating to meteorology, seismology and allied subjects.

Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA) was set up by the Government of Orissa as an autonomous organization vide Finance Department Resolution No. IFC- 74/99-51779/F dated the 28th December 1999 ( in the intermediate aftermath of the Super-cyclone in 1999). It was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 on 29.12.1999 as a non-profit making & charitable institution for the interest of the people of Orissa, with its headquarters at Bhubaneswar and jurisdiction over the whole State.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), headed by the Prime Minister of India, is the Apex Body for Disaster Management in India. The setting up of the NDMA and the creation of an enabling environment for institutional mechanisms at the State and District levels is mandated by the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)discharges multifarious functions, important among them being the maintenance of Internal Security.Though in terms of Entries No. 1 and 2 of List II -'State List'- in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India, 'public order' and 'police' are the responsibilities of States, Article 355 of the Constitution enjoins the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), an autonomous organization under the Department of Space (DOS), is responsible for acquisition, processing, supply of aerial and satellite remote sensing data and continuously exploring the practical uses of remote sensing technology for multilevel (global to local) applications. It provides the necessary trained manpower through capacity building in remote sensing applications.

The National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) is the premier institution in India to provide Medium Range Weather Forecasts through deterministic methods and to render Agro Advisory Services (AAS) to the farmers. The centre offers challenging research opportunities in Numerical Weather Prediction, Diagnostic studies, Crop Weather Modeling and Computer Science.