Bhubaneswar: In a major move to further strengthen its disaster management architecture, the Odisha government has decided to upgrade the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) into the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), reinforcing the state's preparedness to tackle natural calamities and other emergencies. The decision was taken on Tuesday at a high-level review meeting on disaster preparedness and management, chaired by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari. With this decision, the specialised ODRAF will be officially redesignated as the State Disaster Response Force and will operate under a revised institutional framework with expanded responsibilities, improved operational capabilities and enhanced deployment mechanisms. Officials said the move is intended to align Odisha's disaster response mechanism more closely with national disaster management standards while building a stronger state-level institutional framework capable of addressing increasingly complex climate-related disasters. The conversion of ODRAF into the State Disaster Response Force is expected to further enhance the state's disaster resilience by enabling faster response, improved inter-agency coordination and better utilisation of resources during emergencies.