BHUBANESWAR: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday asked various rescue and response forces to stay prepared to handle disasters like the Bahanaga train tragedy. On June 2, Coromandel Express had collided head-on with a stationary goods train and its dislocated coaches hit Bengaluru-Howrah train resulting in 296 deaths.
"The Bahanaga incident reminds us that disasters can strike anywhere, anytime. We need to enhance the capacities of our response teams and community volunteers to respond to such unpredictable disasters in a better manner. We require to be in a constant state of preparedness,” Naveen said while felicitating several bravehearts, response teams and government institutions whose prompt services saved many lives.
Among those felicitated were several voluntary and charitable organisations, social workers, volunteers, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, National Disaster Response Force, healthcare institutions, collector and SP of Balasore and north Odisha Chamber of Commerce.
"The spontaneous emergence of human values and compassion just after the Bahanaga incident re-established our trust in the conscience of our society. People of Bahanaga, local volunteers, institutions and response forces have made us hold our heads high with their timely, selfless service,” Naveen said. “The incident shook the nation with numerous deaths, severe injuries, immense pain and unimaginable sufferings. The role of people and administration during the tragedy will be remembered for all the time to come,” Naveen said.
On the same occasion, Naveen felicitated kin of the recipients of Suraj award. Sudhanshu Sekhar Lenka of Jagatsinghpur district, Tanuja Kar of Cuttack district, and Prasenjit Mohanty of Bhubaneswar gave fresh lease of lives to others following donation of their organs.
"They will always be remembered for their inspiring and exemplary humanitarian act. Today (the world organ donation day) is the day to realise the value of service and sacrifice in society,” Naveen said. The family members of Suraj award winners received Rs 5 lakh each.
