Rama Krishna Sangem
Gone are the days when massive cyclones used to causes heavy loss of life, besides livestock and property. We cannot stop cyclones or stormy rains, but thanks to effective disaster management and rescue operations, loss of life has become a thing of past, almost. See the current super cyclone Montha, that lashed the coast of Andhra Pradesh October 28, Tuesday night and continues to lash incessant rains across state and Telangana on Wednesday too. There is no big loss of life till Wednesday morning.
I am not saying we have completely avoided deaths, due to a cyclonic storm. We have minimized deaths. Loss of life which used to be so huge some decades ago is gradually coming down., thanks to scientific and technological advancements coupled with better management practices at all levels. This is a big relief for people of India. Completely avoiding deaths is not possible even in developed counties like the US, Europe and Japan. So India has almost reached the levels of developed nations in cyclone disaster management.
Our weather warning systems are getting more accurate, giving the authorities enough elbow room to plan, prepare and execute relief and rescue operations. Even in the case of Montha too, early warnings came 5-6 days before, even as the cyclone began forming in Bay of Bengal last weekend. AP government led by CM Chandrababu Naidu and his team of officials have begun precautionary measures well 2-3 days before the storm hit the coast.
75,000 evacuated or shifted to camps
As many as 75,000 people were either shifted from the lower lying areas or shifted to cyclone relief shelters along the coast. This drill of people moving to shelters became a routine since the killer cyclone that hit Divi Seema in 1977, which claimed around 15,000 lives besides causing huge devastation to the coastal belt. As many as 469 mandals were spotted as Montha affected areas this time and around 3.6 crore people were given mobile alerts, asking them not to venture into sea or sea coast areas.
Thousands of medical teams and rescue and relief machines like JCBs and tree-cutters were kept ready to meet any eventuality. As people, mostly, fishermen were advised to stay homes, loss of life was effectively minimized. Accustomed to cyclonic drills, public too this time showed utmost discipline on their part.
Setting up of the National Disaster Relief Authority two decades ago can be said to be a game-changer. This helped both the Centre and states recognize the importance of avoiding loss of life during cyclones. AP, of course, is ahead of many other states on this front.
