The coasts of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are facing the extreme wrath of Cyclone ‘Fani’ (pronounced Foni). As per the latest India Meteorological Department update, ‘Fani’ had crossed the Odisha coast close to Puri with a maximum sustained wind speed of 175-185 kmph, gusting to 205 kmph, from 8-10 am on Friday. However, with the help of IMD’s better warning system and better centre-state coordination, the affected areas have witnessed mass evacuation of over 11.5 lakh people along with the highest ever deployment by NDRF.
According to IMD, “It (Fani) is very likely to emerge into Gangetic West Bengal as a severe cyclonic storm with wind speed of 90-100 kmph, gusting to 115 kmph, by early Saturday morning. It is very likely to move further north-northeastwards and emerge into Bangladesh on Saturday evening as a cyclonic storm with wind speed of 60-70 kmph, gusting to 80 kmph.”
Safety measures implemented by the IMD along with the central and state governments have proven successful as the government officially put the death toll at a mere six. This is in stark contrast to the Odisha cyclone that occurred in 1999 and had killed close to 10,000 people, flattened thousands of dwellings and devastated huge areas of the countryside. Such immense progress is due to IMD’s new regional hurricane model, which is part of India’s ‘zero casualty’ focus on cyclones. Due to accuracy in tracking and forecasting landfall, central agencies and state governments were able to manage a mass evacuation.
Earlier preparedness by the local authorities included piling of foodstuff for emergency use. Moreover, Odisha had installed an early warning system to ensure last mile connectivity through voice messaging and blowing of sirens.
Coastal measures implemented in the wake of ‘Fani’ include repeated warnings, which reduced casualties at sea and providing infrastructure by way of storm bunkers. In light of this disaster, the government and private hospitals have geared up with an increase in the staff on duty along with medicines and beds. The authorities have also set up cyclone and food shelters for the victims.
The highest ever number of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was deployed, consisting of 65 teams (one team consists of 45 personnel) on the ground with 38 of the teams in Odisha itself. Apart from this, Army columns were in readiness in some areas including Gopalpur (Odisha), Secunderabad, Barrackpore, Kolkata and Kankinara. Six ships were deployed for relief operations by the Indian Navy while medical and diving teams were on alert. The Indian Air Force also kept two C-17s and two C-130s on standby along with four AN-32s. In Odisha, two choppers were on standby for immediate rescue and air dropping of relief material. Moreover, additional teams for road clearance, law and order and dry food have been rushed.
Praising the IMD’s pro-activeness, Madhavan Rajeevan, Ministry of Earth Sciences’ (MoES) secretary stated, “It’s a very significant achievement for IMD. I wrote a congratulatory note to its director general (K J Ramesh) today for averting a major crisis. The department has successfully used its regional hurricane model in addition to other existing models.” He continued further by stating that the new regional model, having ocean components in addition to atmospheric ones in other models, could track the cyclone better. IMD has been able to reduce its 24-hour forecast error in track prediction from 137km during 2007-11 to 97km during 2012-16. Similarly, its ‘landfall error’ during the period reduced from 101km to 56km. Nevertheless, the agency wants to continuously improve upon the forecast and is striving for perfection. In this regard, Rajeevan stated that “Review of existing system will be done on May 13 as the forecast agency wants to further improve its cyclone early warning system.”
The improved warning system has earned international praise as well. The efforts of the disaster management authorities, in the wake of ‘Fani’, were noted by the UN office for Disaster Risk Reduction. It took note of how the disaster management authorities, with support of IMD, “acted with speed” in order to evacuate up to 4 lakh people ahead of ‘Hudhud’, the cyclone that had hit Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
The preparedness since Hudhud has only increased. The immense pro-activeness of the authorities is commendable. What is most important is the coordination between the various government authorities and this is exactly what is being viewed here. Government officials have joined hands in order to tackle the national disaster and ensure smooth functioning of the evacuation plan, along with providing aides to the victims.
