Final Project of Risk & Development Course of World Bank

-by Padma

Prevention is better than cure-Cyclone Phailin - a story of lessons learnt
As the famous adage goes, this is a real story as to how an east Indian state of
Orissa (Odisha-new name) has learnt not only how to cope with the natural disasters,
in this case cyclone, but to prevent the human loss to a great extent.
In 1999 Odisha cyclone, a strong tropical cyclone hit the coastal region of
Orissa (India) with a peak wind speed of 155 mph (250 km/h). It caused the deaths of
about 50,000 people(unofficial), and heavy to extreme damage in its path of
destruction.

14 years later, Cyclone Phailin hit Orissa again and the history was set to repeat itself,
but could not. Where over 50,000(unofficial) lives were lost in 1999, this time the
disaster management agencies along with state and local administration made
efforts to limit it to just 23.

In the first week of October 2013, it all started as a tropical depression in Gulf of
Thailand which moved towards Andaman Sea where it was named Phailin on
October 9, there after it developed into a cyclonic storm. The Severe Cyclonic Storm
Phailin was anticipated to have its landfall on 12th October evening in the coastal
district of Gopalpur in Orissa. The super clyclone did reach the coastal region with all
its fury. It damaged property, infrastructure inlcuding roads, electricity distribution
system, telecom towers etc but human lives were spared. Lets see how.

I step-
Preparedness of Orrisa State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA)
"In the aftermath of the super cyclone of 1999 that ravaged the coastal Orissa
OSDMA has constructed 97 Multipurpose Cyclone Shelters in 6 coastal districts. 37
have been constructed under World Bank assistance and60 have been constructed
out of Chief Ministers Relief Fund. 41 more are under construction out of Prime
Ministers National Relief Fund. Indian Red Cross Society, Orissa Branch has also
constructed 65 Multipurpose Cyclone Shelters. Thus 203 cyclone shelters are in place
in various vulnerable locations in six coastal districts of the State"


The locations were identified through a scientific survey conducted by Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur with two major postulates i.e. No person will
have to travel more than 2.25 km to get a safe shelter and without crossing a natural
Barrier. The building is designed to withstand wind speed up to 300 kmph and
moderate earthquakes. Its plinth is above High Flood line (HFL) and standing on a
stilted floor, it can remain unaffected in storm surge up to the 1
st
floor level.
Community members have been trained in Search & Rescue and First aid
techniques and all types of equipment have been supplied to the shelters. Basic
Training on Shelter Management has been given to the CSMMC members of all
cyclone shelters and 50 volunteers of shelter based Disaster Management Teams,
per shelter have been given training on First Aid and Search & Rescue techniques (25
volunteers in each category per shelter) in collaboration with St John Ambulance and
Civil Defense Organization respectively.
Each cyclone shelter has been provided with 32 types of sophisticated
equipment required for disaster management including power saw, siren, free
kitchen utensils, flexi water tank, solar light, stretcher, life buoy and life jacket,
inflatable tower light, generator, and, etc., To review preparedness and to practice
the skills learnt, mock drills are being organized in collaboration with National
Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in all cyclone shelters on 19
th
June every
year.

II step
Geographic Information System (GIS) for disaster management
In the last decade or so there has been considerable mapping and GIS work which
has been carried out by the respective agencies mandated to create GIS. According
to the Orissa Disaster Management Authority website, its mandate reads - "The
prime objectives of developing the GIS database are to help disaster managers at
State, District and Block level for: Pre-disaster planning and preparedness, Prediction
and early warning and Damage assessment and relief management"

III step-
National Remote Sensing Centre, NRSC, has been providing updates on its website
and also the status of the cyclone through the various satellites used to track the
cyclone trail. The latest image posted on their website shows the comparitive status
pre and post cyclone

What the preparation led to?
Over 5,50,000 people were evacuated from the areas vulnerable to severe cyclone
and moved to places where they could be saved. The Flood and Cyclone Shelters,
which were repaired and rebuilt after the super cyclone calamity of 1999, with the
assistance from World Bank and Chief Ministers Relief Fund were put into use in
timely manner. Most of the evacuation work was carried out in about two days time
frame, with adequate logistical arrangements made for the relief centres to support
the evacuees for few days, before they could return back to their home.
According to news covered in Telegraph India in 2011 - "The Orissa Space
Applications Centre (OSAC) has been able to create a space-based natural resource
atlas of Orissa. ISRO has provided new techniques of acquiring high-resolution space-
based data. The new technique known as SIS-DP (Space-based information support
for decentralised planning) is now able to create large scale geographical information
system (GIS) data on land cover, settlements, soil, slope, water sources, road net
work, public utilities, communication network, health care and so on."

"Today, 11 Indian remote sensing satellites in service, the National Remote Sensing
Centre in Hyderabad is able to provide data that helps agencies forecast cyclones
more than 72 hours in advance and evacuate people."(Times of India)

The impact of cyclone Phailin has affected large parts of India deep inside from the
coastal regions in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, and
Chhattisgarh, which saw heavy rainfall and thunderstorm damaging the crops and
upsetting the daily life of millions of people.

Conclusion:-
Thus we see how disaster preparedness of the Government of Orissa made a
mammoth task look simple and which could have been a real disaster almost became
a breeze as far as human lives is concerned.