Cyclone Phailin: Superior preparedness

could reduce casualties:

If there was a silver lining in the grim foreboding of a monster storm, it's the realization
that lives aren't that cheap in India any longer. For, the measures taken by the
administration in the run-up to Cyclone Phailinto reduce casualties and minimize losses
doesn't have parallels.

The superior preparedness and response this time for disaster is in sharp contrast to
previous disastrous storms like the 1999 super cyclone. They are also in contrast with the
Uttarakhand disaster when the state authorities were caught flat-footed. This time
disaster management authorities are confident of meeting the challenge with minimal
casualty.

The coastline has been dotted with cyclone shelters, none of them more than 2.5 km
from habitation. This has ensured that over 5 lakh people could be evacuated in last two
days. Otherwise, moving such large numbers could have been impossible.

Nothing has helped more than an early and accurate warning of the impending
natural disaster. Though the met department did predict cyclones alerts even in 1999
based on satellite images, these were mostly too close to the landfall and not pinpointed
in terms of location.

Today, there is a Doppler radar in place at Bhubaneswar, giving out precise
coordinates in terms of geographical spread, intensity and timing of
cyclones. This enables early alerts to the local authorities and wider dissemination of
cyclone warnings in the vulnerable areas, facilitating timely evacuation of people likely to
be affected.

The electronic media boom and 24x7 news coverage further ensured that Phailin
became a household name well before its landfall.

Evacuations play a key part in disaster mitigation. Unlike 1999 when the super cyclone
caught the victims as well as government authorities by surprise, around 5.25 lakh
evacuations were already complete by the first half of Saturday.

The cyclone shelters have been built under the Centre and NDMA's National
Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project, a World Bank-assisted initiative. These two-
storeyed structures can withstand windspeed up to 300 km per hour and moderate
earthquakes.

The massive evacuation authorities may not have been possible but for the relentless
efforts of the local administration. A local official said when some of the villagers refused
to leave their houses, the authorities even went to the extent of threatening them with
detention and arrest, ensuring immediate compliance.

The creation of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in 2006 ensured
that there were around 2,300 personnel, especially trained in disaster mitigation
and response, available for deployment, along with equipment like inflatable boads,
lifebuoys and power saws.

Incidentally, Odisha had set up its own Odisha State Disaster Management
Authority and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) soon the 1999
disaster, much before the NDMA and NDRF came into being.

Last but not the least, the coordination between the Central and state agencies
this time was "remarkably good", as an NDMA member put it, with IMD religiously
relaying cyclone updates to NDMA, MHA and state government.

The national executive council, which was almost non-functional until the
Uttarakhand disaster, has been very active, with the Union home secretary taking daily
meetings over the last couple of days, coordinating mitigation and relief preparedness
with various nodal ministries, Armed Forces, NDRF and state authorities.