It was 1999 when a super cyclone devastated parts of Odisha, killing over 10,000 people. The 1999 super cyclone was one of the worst natural disasters in India. Now, in May 2021, another super cyclone, Cyclone Yaas, has hit the state, but thanks to its robust evacuation mechanism and readiness, Odisha has managed to contain the damage for good.
Cyclone Yaas landed on May 26th in Odisha between the north coast of Dhamra in the Bhadrak district and the coast of Bahanga in the Balasore district. According to the Indian Meteorological Authority (IMD), the cyclone storm weakened to a deep depression over South Jharkhand and Odisha late Thursday. So far, only three deaths from the cyclone have been reported – two in Odisha and one in West Bengal.
Odisha has faced up to six cyclones in the past 30 months, but the death toll has never exceeded a single digit. Odisha Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena told India Today. The only difference the state has made in the last 20 years is willingness.
standby
As soon as weather experts predicted the approach of Cyclone Yaas, the state civil protection department was immediately activated and took all precautionary measures, including evacuating people, to meet the zero-causality target set by Prime Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Several teams from ODRAF, NDRF, Odisha Police, fire fighters, energy department personnel and PWD took action once the cyclone landing was completed. Rescue and restoration work was on a war basis. As a result, the roads were cleared in a matter of hours and power was restored to the entire Balasore district in 7 to 8 hours.
The Odisha government has managed to evacuate at least 710,000 people from lower-lying areas and coastal areas with the help of local forces. The disaster control team consists of 52 NDRF teams (20 to 25 members per team), 60 teams from the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (13 members per team), 206 fire service teams (8 to 13 members per team) and 50 platoon Odisha special armed police, 86 State Department of Forestry tree cutting teams (8 members including 1 officer per team).
A restoration team removes fallen trees from the road.
In addition to the civil protection team, the state has deployed several teams to clean up areas affected by the cyclone. This includes 154 people from the Public Welfare Department, 313 Rural Development Department teams (1 junior engineer and 22 workers per team), 104 street cleaning teams, and 606 technical department teams, including civil servants and workers. At least 10,000 members of the energy department were deployed in advance in strategic locations such as hospitals and other key locations to help the administration with faster recovery.
The state government has also used 1,000 diesel generators to operate water supply systems, 1,000 mobile tankers and over 2,000 PVC tanks in the villages.
Two of the most important USPs of Odisha’s way of fighting natural disasters are massive evacuations, both targeted and blanket, as well as cross-departmental coordination. The state has a robust institutional structure with a dedicated Civil Protection Department staff closely monitored by senior officials.
evacuation
Evacuating people from areas likely to be hit by cyclones has been a challenging task due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first phase, the administration opted for a targeted evacuation by moving people from Kachha houses and lower-lying areas to a safe place. In the second phase, the administration initiated the blanket evacuation of villages with a length of 4 meters. As a result, no injury or death occurred in over 150 villages where severe waterlogging was reported.
Rescue teams evacuate people from a village in Odisha.
Covid management during the cyclone
The restoration teams faced a double challenge due to the cyclone and the Covid-19 pandemic and fixed doors and windows of Covid-designated hospitals. adequate drugs, injections, and supplies were stored in hospitals; adequate oxygen cylinders and buffer material were maintained; In the hospital, meals were arranged for patients, doctors and paramedics. As a result, none of the Covid hospitals in the cyclone-affected districts reported adverse incidents.
The food is provided in a home.
Despite the landing of Cyclone Yaas on Wednesday, Odisha enabled the unhindered transport of medical oxygen to the states affected by Covid. In addition to coordinating the interstate movement of oxygen tankers, the state police also made sure that the oxygen supply reached the local hospitals.
District collectors from potential cyclone-hit districts have been asked to do so Identify every single pregnant woman with an estimated delivery date by the first week of June and relocating to hospitals instead of taking them to cyclone shelters. Around 4,500 such women have been identified, of which 2,500 have been hospitalized. On the day Cyclone Yaas landed, 190 births were reported in Odisha.
Rescue team members hand over a baby to the mother during an evacuation trip in Odisha.
The administration also identified people with mental disorders and people with special skills who were wheelchair bound and moved them to various shelters with special facilities.
Capable leadership
Recalling a meeting with Prime Minister Naveen Patnaik after he first took office in 2000, Jena said the CM had told him that Odisha, as a coastal state, could not completely avoid cyclones. “The only thing we can do is save lives, and every single life is valuable to me,” Jena remembered the CM.
Prime Minister Naveen Patnaik takes an aerial photo of the areas affected by the Cylons.
During the preparation for Cyclone Amphan last year, CM Naveen Patnaik set the administration the goal of “zero sacrifices”. The state had registered a single-digit death toll due to the cyclone.
“We have now achieved the ability to evacuate at least 10 to 50 lakh in less than 24 hours,” said Jena.
Jena said the government conducts a nationwide mock exercise on June 19 every year to respond when a storm or cyclone comes. “The institution you create shouldn’t be rigid; it should be flexible and adaptable. How quickly you adapt to the emergency situation, how quickly you change your Plan-A with Plan-B as needed, is important,” said he
See also: PM Modi will visit Odisha, Bengal tomorrow to review the effects of Cyclone Yaas
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