CA 1

ARC 318
DISASTER MITIGATION
AND MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED BY
MADHAV KRISHNA P – 11901066
ARSHA DEVAN – 11917903
DEVIKA P SUNIL – 11901083
ASWIN PRAKASH – 11805660
WHAT IS A DISASTER ?
A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which
exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.

Classification
Disasters are routinely divided into natural or human-made,although complex disasters, where there is no single root cause, are more common in developing
countries. A specific disaster may spawn a secondary disaster that increases the impact. A classic example is an earthquake that causes a tsunami, resulting
in coastal flooding. Some manufactured disasters have been ascribed to nature such as smog and acid rain.

Natural disasters
A natural disaster is a natural process or phenomenon that may cause loss of
life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and
services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.
Various phenomena like earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods,
hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, tsunamis, cyclones, wildfires, and pandemics
are all natural hazards that kill thousands of people and destroy billions of
dollars of habitat and property each year.However, the rapid growth of the
world's population and its increased concentration often in hazardous
environments has escalated both the frequency and severity of disasters. With
the tropical climate and unstable landforms, coupled with deforestation,
unplanned growth proliferation, non-engineered constructions make the flood cyclone
disaster-prone areas more vulnerable. Developing countries suffer more or less
chronically from natural disasters due to ineffective communication combined
with insufficient budgetary allocation for disaster prevention and management.

Artificial disasters and hazards

Human-instigated disasters are the consequence of technological or human
hazards. Examples include war, social unrest, stampedes, fires, transport
accidents, industrial accidents, conflicts, oil spills, terrorist attacks, nuclear
explosions/nuclear radiation.
Other types of induced disasters include the more cosmic scenarios of
catastrophic climate change, nuclear war, and bioterrorism.
One opinion argues that all disasters can be seen as humanmade, due to human
failure to introduce appropriate emergency management measures.
Famines may be caused locally by drought, flood, fire, or pestilence, but in
modern times there is plenty of food globally, and sustained localized
shortages are generally due to government mismanagement, violent conflict, or earthquake forest fire
an economic system that does not distribute food where needed. Earthquakes
are mainly hazardous because of human-created buildings and dams; avoiding
earthquake-generated tsunamis and landslides is largely a matter of location
disaster management
Disaster management (or emergency management) is the creation of plans through which communities reduce
vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters.
• Disaster management does not avert or eliminate the threats, instead it focuses on creating plans to decrease
the impact of disasters. Failure to create a plan could lead to damage to assets, human mortality, and lost
revenue.
• Events covered by disaster management include acts of terrorism, industrial sabotage, fire, natural disasters
(such as earthquakes, hurricanes, etc.), public disorder, industrial accidents, and communication failures.
• The Red Cross and Red Crescent societies define disaster management as the organization and management of
resources and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular
preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters
• There is no country that is immune from disaster, though vulnerability to disaster varies.
phases of disaster management
• Mitigation: any activity that reduces either the chance of a hazard taking place or
a hazard turning into disaster.
• Risk reduction: anticipatory measures and actions that seek to avoid future risks as a result of a disaster.
• Prevention: avoiding and reduce the chances of disaster, usually the impact and damage of disaster.
• Preparedness: plans or preparations made to save lives or property, and help the response and rescue service
operations. This phase covers implementation/operation, early warning systems and capacity building so the
population will react appropriately when an early warning is issued.
• Response: includes actions taken to save lives and prevent property damage, and to preserve the environment
during emergencies or disasters. The response phase is the implementation of action plans.
• Recovery: includes actions that assist a community to return to a sense of normalcy after a disaster.

IN BRIEF – DISASTER PROFILE OF INDIA

• Figuratively loss of life to natural disasters is 4350 per year and 30 million affected on the whole to natural
disasters per year.
• Approximately around one million houses are damaged annually in the country compounded with loss of lives
and economic losses
EARTHQUAKE
Earthquake
Earthquake is a violent tremor in the earth’s crust, sending out a series of shock waves in all directions
from its place of origin or epicenter. Earthquakes constitute one of the worst natural hazards which often
turn into disaster causing widespread destruction and loss to human life.

Causes of Earthquake
Earthquakes are caused by sudden release of energy in rocks. Plates in the form of rocks are moving very
slowly and earthquake occur when moving plates grind and scrape against each other.
Terminology : The point at which an earthquake originates is the focus or hypocenter and the point on the
earth’s surface directly above this is epicenter. The study of earthquake is called seismology.
Tectonic Plates There are 7 large and 12 small such plates which are in continuous motion.
These plates move along three distinctive types of boundaries, that is;
Convergent boundaries : where plates push each other and one plate slides down the other one
Divergent boundaries: where plates pull away from each other earthquake picture from the movie 2012
Transformed boundaries : where plates slide past each other.

Earthquake occur due to several causes such as volcanic eruption, etc. but the plate tectonic theory is the
most convincing and widely accepted

Strength of earthquake
The intensity and strength of an earthquake is measured on Richter scale, the scale invented by Charles richter
Richter California, USA in 1935, which categories earthquake on the basis of energy released. scale
The amount of energy released during different categories of Richter scale earthquake as follows;
India -Depending upon the frequency and intensity of the earthquakes, the whole
country can be divided into three broad seismological zones

1. Himalayan zone
The areas most prone to earthquake in India is the Fold Mountains ranges of the Himalayan zone.
The states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Bihar, the Bihar- Nepal border
and north eastern states. The earthquakes in these zones are primarily due to plate tectonics. The
region along the Himalayas where two plates meet is highly earthquake prone and hence known as
the zone of maximum intensity.

2. The indo-gangetic zone

To the south of the Himalayan zone and running parallel it is the indo-gangetic zone. Most of the
earthquakes striking this zone are of moderate intensity of 6 to 6.5 on Richter scale. Therefore
this zone is called the zone of comparative intensity. The earthquakes along the foothill are of
medium to high intensity. However, the earthquakes of this zone are more harmful due to high
density of population in this area.
3. The peninsular zone
The peninsular India has presumably remained a stable landmass and only few earthquakes have been experienced in this region. This region is, therefore,
called the zone of minimum intensity. But the sever earthquakes of Konya (1967), Latur (1993) and Jabalpur (1997) have raised doubts about the seismic
stability of this landmass.

the Himalayan zone the indo-gangetic zone the peninsular zone

Hazardous Effects of Earthquake

- Loss of life and property
- Damage to infrastructure
- Topographical changes
- Damage to transport system i.e. roads, railways,
highways, airports, marine.
- Chances of fire short-circuit.
- Chances of Floods
- Dams and Embankments can develop cracks
- Chances of outburst of epidemic
- Water pipes, sewers are disrupted
- Communications such as telephone wires are damaged.
- Economic activities like agriculture, industry, trade and
latur earthquake, maharastra indian ocean earthquake 2004
transport are severely affected.
earthquakes in india up to date and its details ;

different seismic zones in india
According to the seismic zoning map of the country, India is divided
into four seismic zones. Also known as earthquake zones, these
seismic zones are formed on the basis of scientific inputs related to
the following:
The Seismicity or the Frequency of Earthquakes in a Region
Earthquakes That Have Hit the Country in the Past
major earthquakes happened in india denoted on the map
The four zones of earthquake in India, as discussed below:
Seismic Zone II: Zone II is classified as the low-damage risk zone. This is the least
seismically active zone, meaning the areas that fall under these zones in India
have a low chance of having an earthquake. Zone II covers earthquake-prone
areas, which are 41% of India. Here, the Indian Standard Code allots a zone
factor of 0.10.
Seismic Zone III: Seismic Zone 3/III is classified as the moderate-damage risk zone.
Here, the IS Code allots 0.16 to this zone. Zone III, or moderate earthquake
zone, covers 30% of India.
Seismic Zone IV: Zone IV is considered the high-damage risk zone. The IS Code
allots 0.24 to this zone. Moreover, 18% of the total area of the country belongs
to Zone IV.
Seismic Zone V: Zone V has the highest risk of damaging earthquakes. The IS Code
has assigned a factor of 0.36 for this very high-risk damage zone. Around 11% of
India falls under Zone V.
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES FOR THE EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT BUILDINGS
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES TO RESIST EARTHQUAKE : HIGH RISE BUILDINGS
1. Active and Passive System
2. Shear walls
3. Bracing
4. Dampers
5. Rollers
6. Isolation
7. Light Weight Material
8. Bands
seismic damper
1.Active and Passive System
I. Active control system relies on counter-balancing the motion of the structural
system by means of automated, rather than sophisticated counter-weight shear wall
system.
II. E.g. :active mass damper, active variable stiffness, active passive composite
TMD.
III. Passive control systems are passive in that they do not require any additional
energy source to operate and are activated by earthquake input motion only.
IV. E.g. : energy dissipation devices, base isolation techniques, dynamic oscillators
2. Shear Walls
i. In simple, these are the vertical elements of the horizontal resisting system.
ii. These are either plane or flanged in section, while core walls consist of
channel sections.
iii. Best position is the center of each half of the building.
iv. Better to use walls with no openings. seismic isolation types of seismic dampers
3. Bracing
i. During an earthquake, S-waves shake the buildings from left to right so
bracing helps keep the shape avoiding the weakening of the structure.
ii. Foundations built on bed rock may resist even the biggest earthquakes.
iii. Cross bracing is utilized to reinforce building structures in which diagonal
supports intersect.
4. Dampers
i. Seismic Dampers partly absorbs the seismic energy and reduces the motion of
the buildings.
ii. ii. They prevent discomfort, damage, or outright structural failure.
5. Rollers
6. Isolation
Base isolation devices – separate building from building foundation by bearing
pads. seismic rollers
a) Lead rubber bearings. types of seismic bracing
b) Spherical sliding isolation systems.
essential internal elements in a building for earthquake safety showing joint details with vertical reinforcement at corners
for masonry walls using different kinds of materials

BASIC REQUIREMENTS IN A BUILDING FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY

1. Good Cement Mortar – 1:6 (1 part of cement with 6 parts of sand)
2. Horizontal Seismic Bands(It consists of reinforced concrete flat runner through
all external and internal masonry walls)
i. Plinth Level
ii. Levels of Lintels of doors and windows
iii. Ceiling level of roofs
• The length of the walls between the perpendicular cross walls is responsible for
the dimensions of the bands and the reinforcement inside
• Reinforcing bars will be of Fe 415 type[ TOR or , HYSD bars]
3. Vertical reinforcement in the brick walls
i. Reinforcing bars – embedded in brick masonry at corners of all the rooms and
side of the door openings
ii.Window openings larger than 60cms in width will also need such reinforcing
bars
iii.The diameter of the bar depends upon the number of storeys in the building as.
shown in the table Vertical bars Foundation Seismic Bands (Using Binding wires)
Ceiling bands or roof slab(300mm 90)

RECOMMENDED SIZE AND LONGITUDINAL STEEL IN SEISMIC BANDS(ZONE-III)

1. Longitudinal Reinforcements
2. Lateral Ties
3. Vertical Reinforcement at corners
4. Vertical reinforcement at jambs of openings ( for doors & windows > 600 mm)
MITIGATION STRATEGIES TOWARDS EARTHQUAKE PRONE BUILDINGS

1) DESIGN
i. Buildings should be designed like the ductile chain.
ii. The failure of a column can affect the stability of the whole building,
but the failure of a beam causes localized effect.
iii. Therefore, it is better to make beams to be the ductile weak links than
columns.
iv. This method of designing RC buildings is called the strong-column
weak-beam design method

2) BRICK MASONRY STURCTURES

i. In case of brick masonry , the walls lying perpendicular to the
direction of ground shake will fail first.
ii. Hence it is important that we eliminate this kind of seismic behavior of
buildings.
case study
bhuj earthquake,26 January 2001, Gujrat
Gujarat, state, in western India, bordered on the northeast by
Rajasthan state, on the east by Madhya Pradesh state, on the
southeast by Maharashtra state, on the south and southwest
by the Arabian Sea, and on the northwest by Pakistan The state
covers an area of 196,024 sq km (The capital is Gandhinagar,
on the outskirts of Ahmadabad, the former capital and largest
ritcher scale reading of bhuj
city in the state.
earthquake

Bhuj Earthquake 26th January. 2001

On the morning of January 26, 2001, the Nation’s 52nd Republic Day, a devastating earthquake
occurred in the Kutch district of the state of Gujarat. The earthquake was felt as far away as
Delhi in the north, Kolkata in the east and Chennai in the south. Bhuj town and the village
Bhachau, 60 km east of Bhuj, were the worst affected and many other areas of Gujarat including
its state headquarters Ahmedabad, were badly affected The earthquake devastated the Bhuj and areas affected by bhuj earthquake,2001
nearby regions of Gujarat causing extensive loss of life and property.

Damage assessment
• There were more than 20,000 deaths and 167,000 people injured
• Four districts of Gujarat lay in ruin and altogether, 21 districts were affected
• Around 300,000 families and at least 3 million children aged 14 and under were affected.
• Around 600,000 people were left homeless.
• In the city of Bhuj, more than 3,000 inhabitants of the city lost their lives; the main hospital was
crushed and close to 90% of the buildings was destroyed.
• There was significant damage to infrastructure with facilities such as hospitals, schools, electric
power and water systems, bridges and roads damaged or destroyed.

Local response
The response within India was immediate. The national and state governments quickly provided
assistance in many forms including cash, medical supplies, communications teams, shelters, food,
clothing, transport and relief workers. There were more than 185 non-government organizations
(NGOs), mostly Indian charities, which undertook earthquake- related activities

building collapsed, bhuj earthquake,2001

International response damages caused due to the earthquake
Search and Rescue teams soon arrived from Switzerland,
United Kingdom, Russia and Turkey to find and rescue
survivors buried under debris. Relief teams and supplies
soon followed from 38 countries as well as United Nations
agencies and many international NGOs such as the Red
Cross.

Rescue & Relief

The short term rescue and relief operation were being
undertaken, medium term and long term recovery aspects
were analyzed. Rehabilitation schemes Government of
Gujarat tired to, known as packages, were formulated. The
world bank and Asian development bank sanction loans in
less than three months after the earthquake. Several state
governments came forward to participate in, the
reconstruction work in different villages. The UN system,
multilateral and bilateral agencies, NGOs and the
corporate sector participated in the relief and
reconstruction work. Government of Gujarat provided
assistance in the form of materials and cash to about
218,000 families. NGOs supplemented the efforts by
providing shelter to about 7000 families.

Reconstruction
A public private partnership program was started to help in
reconstruction, which was undertaken by GSDMA. A number
of NGOs like FICCI-CARE venture, manav sadhana, rashtriya
swabhiman, jai prakash industries, etc. came forward to
help. About 65 NGOs were active in kutch alone who
adopted 211 villages and constructed 32,297 houses at
the cost of Rs. 185.80 crores. Gujarat earthquake
emergency reconstruction project (GEERP) was started by
GSDMA, with financial help from world bank, Asian
development bank, govt of India and other donor agencies
Architects, engineers and masons were trained in construction of disaster resistant houses . The technical support was made available to the owners
who were provided loan to reconstruct the houses. The houses were registered in the joint names of husband and wife. More than 2 lac houses have been
constructed under this program; all houses being multi hazard resistant.
cyclones
CYCLONE
The cyclone is a Greek word meaning “coil of a snake”. It was first used by Henry Paddington. The
cyclone is basically associated with low pressures and wind speed. Based on its origin from the ocean, it
is Hurricane in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific, Typhoon in Western Pacific, Willy Willy in Western
Australia, Baguio in the Philippines, Taifu in Japan, Ghurni Jad in Bangladesh and Chakravat over the
Indian region.

structure
There are a number of structural characteristics common to all cyclones. A cyclone is a low-pressure
area. A cyclone's center (often known in a mature tropical cyclone as the eye), is the area of lowest
atmospheric pressure in the region. Near the center, the pressure gradient force (from the pressure in
the center of the cyclone compared to the pressure outside the cyclone) and the force from the Coriolis
effect must be in an approximate balance, or the cyclone would collapse on itself as a result of the
difference in pressure.
Because of the Coriolis effect, the wind flow around a large cyclone is counterclockwise in the
Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, the fastest image of a cyclone from the outer space
winds relative to the surface of the Earth therefore occur on the eastern side of a
northward-moving cyclone and on the northern side of a westward-moving one; the opposite occurs in the Southern Hemisphere. In contrast to low-pressure
systems, the wind flow around high-pressure systems are clockwise (anticyclonic) in the northern hemisphere, and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere.

CAUSE OF CYCLONE
The updraft and downdraft movement creates an angle tend to cause a rotatory motion arising from downward motion of cold air and upward motion of hot air.
As the direction of attack is opposite in the northern and southern hemispheres, the direction of rotation will be opposite. Anti-clockwise rotation in the
northern hemisphere and clockwise rotation in the southern hemisphere. In the centre of this rotating air mass is an intensely low-pressure area known as the
“Eye” of the storm
The low-pressure present at the eye of the storm tends to get filled by the rotating air mass.
This causes the lateral motion of the cyclone. Hence the “Eye” of the storm continuously moves
forward. Therefore, the cyclone consists of both rotatory and lateral motion.

Tropical cyclogenesis is the development and strengthening of a tropical cyclone. The

mechanisms by which tropical cyclogenesis occurs are distinctly different from those that
produce mid-latitude cyclones. Tropical cyclogenesis, the development of a warm-core cyclone,
begins with significant convection in a favorable atmospheric environment. There are six main
requirements for tropical cyclogenesis:

1. sufficiently warm sea surface temperatures

2. atmospheric instability,
3. high humidity in the lower to middle levels of the troposphere
4. enough Coriolis force to develop a low-pressure center
5. a preexisting low-level focus or disturbance
structure of cyclone
6. low vertical wind shear.
the synoptic scale
The synoptic scale in meteorology ,also known as large scale or cyclonic scale, is a horizontal length scale
of the order of 1000 kilometers or more. This corresponds to a horizontal scale typical of mid-latitude
depressions. Most high- and low-pressure areas seen on weather maps are synoptic-scale systems, driven by
the location of Rossby waves in their respective hemisphere. Low-pressure areas and their related frontal
zones occur on the leading edge of a trough within the Rossby wave pattern, while high-pressure areas form on
the back edge of the trough. Most precipitation areas occur near frontal zones.
There are types of cyclones:
Cyclones in India 1. Tropical Cyclone
India witnesses cyclones in the North Indian • The storms that originate over a warm tropical ocean
Ocean Cyclone Season usually between April are termed as tropical cyclones. example of synoptic reading
and November. The Indian coastline length is • Low atmospheric pressure, high winds and heavy
around 7516 km and it is noted that 5770 km of rainfall are characteristics of these types of
coastline is vulnerable to natural hazards cyclones.
including cyclones. The east coast of India is • Parts of the Atlantic region, pacific ocean, Indian ocean witness tropical cyclones affecting Gulf
more prone to cyclones than the western coast. Coast of North America, northwestern Australia, and eastern India and Bangladesh along with other
In Indian History, there have been various areas.
cyclones that made headlines due to their effect
on the country. 2. Temperate Cyclone
• These are storms that occur outside the tropics.
The list of some important cyclones of India is • These are referred to as extratropical cyclones. Other names are frontal cyclones and wave
given below: cyclones.
1. Bhola Cyclone – 1970 • They occur in polar regions, temperate and high latitudes.
• It struck Bangladesh (Then, East Pakistan) and West Bengal in 1970.
• It was the strongest cyclone of the 1970 North Indian Ocean Cyclone
Season. 5. Cyclone Amphan – 2020
• It is considered as the deadliest cyclone causing around 3-5 lakh • It was a super tropical cyclone that affected Indian states of West Bengal and
deaths. Odisha; and Bangladesh.
2. Odisha Cyclone – 1999 • It originated in the Bay of Bengal in May 2020.
• It was a very severe cyclonic storm that struck Thailand, Bangladesh, • It is noted to be the costliest tropical cyclone on record in the North Indian
Myanmar and India. Ocean costing Rs. 1.03 crores economic loss.
• As the name suggests, Odisha was the most affected Indian state. 6. Cyclone Nivar – 2020
• According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)’s data, around• It was a severe cyclonic storm that affected Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in
9887 people lost their lives in this cyclone. November 2020.
3. Cyclone Fani – 2019 • There was no loss of life but damaged horticultural crops in about 23000 acre
• After the Odisha Cyclone 1999, it was the second strongest cyclone to 7. Cyclone Burevi – 2020
strike Odisha. • It is a cyclonic storm that affected Tamil Nadu and Kerala in India.
4. Cyclone Nisarga – 2020 • It followed the Nivar Cyclone and originated in the southwest region of Bay of
• It was a severe cyclonic storm that formed over the Arabian Sea. Bengal, in December 2020.
• Maharashtra and Gujarat were the Indian states that were affected by
• this cyclonic storm.
REASONS BEHIND CYCLONES IN INDIA
cyclone prone areas of india
The Indian east coastal region has 7 to 11 visits of cyclones every year. There
are three reasons for it.
• Firstly, the entire peninsular India lies in the tropical region with the North-
Eastern trade winds flowing over them.
• Secondly, this is a well-known fact that the tropical cyclones develop over
warm tropical waters.
• Thirdly, the tropical cyclones are more attracted towards the wet points (any
site that has access to water, usually through being beside a river).

Cyclone Disaster Management

The above-mentioned data signifies the importance of cyclone disaster
management in India to mitigate personal and economic losses.

Mitigation Measures
Hazard Mapping
• It suggests that using hazard mapping, one can predict the vulnerable areas
affected by the storms.
• It maps the pattern of old cyclones using their wind speed, areas affected,
flooding frequency etc.
Land use planning
• With the effective implementation of land use planning, the key activities and
settlements can be avoided in the most vulnerable areas.
• For example, a settlement in the floodplains is at utmost risk. Hence,
authorities should plan ahead to avoid such risks.
Engineered Structures
• These structures withstand the wind forces and prove to mitigate the losse.
• The public infrastructure of the country should be designed keeping in mind
the hazard mapping of the cyclone.
Retrofitting Non-Engineered Structures
• The settlements in non-engineered structures should ensure that they are
aware of their houses’ resistance to the wind or certain disastrous weather
conditions.
• A few examples of retrofitting the non-engineered structures given by UN-
HABITAT are:
I. Construction of a steep-slope roof to avoid the risk of being blown away.
II. Anchoring strong posts with solid footings on the ground.
III. Plantations of trees at a safe distance from the house to help break the
wind forces.
IV. Repair of the shelters before time.
Cyclone Sheltering
• At national, state and regional level, the construction of
cyclone shelters should be taken up to help the vulnerable
community from cyclones.
• The shelters should be built considering the population
density, transportation and communication, distance from
the affected areas of the past, and the areas’ topography.
Flood Management
• As the cyclonic storms lead to heavy rainfall that further
lead to flooding in various areas; important should be given
to the flood management.
• The drainage systems should be well-designed to mitigate
cyclone shelter
flooding.
• The participation both from the government and the local hazard map showing every hazard
community is required for this. Vegetation Cover Improvement zones in india
• To increase the water infiltration capacity, improving
vegetation cover is of high importance.
• Planting trees in rows, coastal shelterbelt plantations,
mangrove shelterbelt plantations, etc can help break the
wind force and mitigate the severe losses.
Mangrove Plantation
• The ecologically-efficient mangroves should be planted
more.
• India has 3 per cent of the world’s mangroves cover. flood management in india, rain
• The root systems of mangroves help in mitigating tsunamis, percentage
soil erosion etc.
mangrove plantation in maharastra,india
Saline Embankment
• Along the coast, saline embankments help protect habitation,
agricultural crops, and other important installations.
Levees
• They act as an obstruction to the wind forces and also
provide a shelter during floods.
Artificial Hills
• These act as the refuge during flooding, and should be
taken up in the right areas.
Awareness of the public
• The participation of the community increases with the number
of public awareness initiatives.
• The governments at all levels should initiate programs
bringing awareness about the natural calamities and making
saline embankment
provisions for higher local participation in the mitigation artificial hills
process.
case study
super cyclone,29 October 1999, odissa
Odisha is a state on the eastern seaboard of India, located between 17o49’N and 22o36’N latitudes
and between 81o36’ E and 87o18’E longitudes. It spreads over an area of 1,55,707 km2 and is
broadly divided into four geographical regions, i.e. Northern Plateau, Central River Basins, Eastern
Hills and Coastal Plains. Its population was 4.2 crores as per the 2011 census. The coastal plains
are comprised of deltas of rivers like Mahanadi and its tributaries which makes the land fertile due to
the presence of good alluvial soil and irrigation sources.

ODISHA AND CYCLONES

Odisha is prone to three types of natural hazards such as cyclones, earthquakes and floods. Out of
all these, major problem of the state are the cyclonic storms with storm surges inundating vast areas
of land along the coastal areas. The coastline is about 450 km along towards the Bay of Bengal which synoptic reading of the super cyclone in india,1999
is about 18 per cent of the Indian coastline but nearly about 35 per cent of cyclonic storms with
hurricane winds have crossed this stretch. Odisha has experienced cyclones in the year 1971, 1973,
1977, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1999, 2013 and 2014

SUPER CYCLONE, On October 28-29, 1999

Odisha was hit by a cyclone which was termed as “super cyclone” also known as paradip cyclone. The
super cyclone first originated like as a depression over north Andaman island at about 12000’ north
to 130 30’ north latitude and 95000’ east longitude and centred about 350 km to the north east of
Port Blair. Then it moved to the north west and took a shape of cyclone and centred at about 800 km
to the south east of Paradip
After that, it intensified further and became a super cyclone and moved in a North-West direction and
centred at about 25 km to the South East of Paradip at 19° 54'- 20° 05’ North and 86° 35’ east
longitude. The land fall at Paradip was on 29th - 30th October and remained stationary there for
about more than 24 hours during which the wind velocity reached a maximum of 270 km/h to 300 km/h.
The super cyclone was accompanied with heavy rain and storm for more than 36 hours.

PRE-DISASTER MANAGEMENT
The state of Odisha was poorest among all the states, where more than half of the population were
under BPL. Orissa also had the least household income and per capita income in the country. About
80% of the population used to live in temporary houses, which increased its vulnerability to higher
damages in case of floods and cyclones
The disaster preparedness level in Odisha was quite low. Being the poor state, the overall disaster
management, a state level subject in India, gets low priority in the wake of more pressing needs of
development. Odisha had a woefully inadequate infrastructure for saving lives during cyclones.
Odisha (whose coastline is around 40% of Andhra Pradesh’s) had 23 specially constructed cyclone
shelters in October 1999 compare to 1041 in Andhra Pradesh. These cyclone shelters were
pathway of the super cyclone in india,1999
constructed by Red Cross Society of India in collaboration with International partners.
IMPACTS OF SUPER CYCLONE
The 12 districts of coastal Odisha experienced the devastation of super cyclone as the whole
public services, communication and transportation were completely paralyzed affecting the normal
life of people.
• Total 97 blocks and 28 urban local bodies were affected, about 275000 homes were
destroyed,1.67 million people were homeless and with it human loss was 9885.
• The animal fatality was about 2.5 million and mortality was about 406,000 livestock due to
direct impact of cyclone
• 1.35 million hectors of paddy crop, 0.28 million hectors of non-paddy crops and 0.18 hectors
of horticultural crop were damaged.
• 2139 km of public works dept. roads were damaged, including a 90m wide breach on the National
Highway No. 5 connecting Calcutta- Bhubaneswar- Chennai.
• Severe floods due to heavy rainfall had caused 2005 numbers of breaches in the flood
embankments and 8647 breaches in Chennai embankments. About 5636 lift irrigation points in the
affected area had been severely affected
• In all about 90 million trees have been uprooted and about 95,750 hectors of forest area were
affected.
• During this time the municipality was totally out of function and they didn’t do any work for
cleaning the roads and habitation areas. the cyclone affected area map of odissa,1999
• The tubes well were contaminated and over loaded with waters, the municipalities had stopped
supplying water due to the failure of electricity.
• Due to cut in electricity many of the factories and firms remained closed for nearly a month.
And the people were in a great problem as they didn’t have any work.
• Due to lack of communication and transportation there was no supply of commodities, consumer
goods and vegetables, etc. As a result, the prices of the essential goods and the vegetables
were raised to double of its original price.
• The people also faced problems in getting cooking gases, petrol and diesel. During this period
petrol was sold for Rs.100/lt. The hike in price left the poor people to suffer a great extent.
• The failure of law and order was also noticed in the affected areas and also in the cities. There
was increase of robbery, looting and snatching on the roads.

fishing boat found in the field areas after the

cyclone,1999

destruction caused by the cyclone in odissa,1999

POST-DISASTER MANAGEMENT
• Initially relief was provided by the state government which pressed into six choppers for air dropping of food packets to the marooned people. “Operation
Sahayata” carried relief material to all the affected areas.
• Compensation of Rs. 75,000 per each dead person. A total of Rs. 21.03 crores from state disaster mitigation fund and Rs. 38.41 crores from prime minister
relief fund was spent in different districts.
• The United Nations in India instituted the UN House in Bhubaneswar to provide assistance for restoring normalcy in the aftermath of the super cyclone.
• Two neighbouring states AP & WB provided immediate help to the states of Odisha.
• A group of non-governmental organizations and volunteers created Orissa Disaster Mitigation Mission (ODMM) and around 20 INGOs, 20 national level
NGOs, 49 PSUs and 12 states had participated in the relief and rehabilitation process.
• Sneha Abhiyan - “a campaign of love” was a response to ensure rehabilitation of the most vulnerable among the survivors of the Orissa super cyclone.
• Mamata Gruhas were built in villages where there was a large concentration of people who had been orphaned and made destitute. The objectives were:
(i) to ensure that the basic needs (food, shelter, clothing) for the survival of the target groups were met,
(ii) to meet their psycho-social and security needs and to build their confidence to survive, and
(iii) to facilitate a process where the target groups could be rehabilitated into the community.
The 44 Mamata Gruhas which were established in December 1999 supported by Action Aid provided shelter to 801 orphans and children at risk, 638 widows,
and 201 old people.

details of damages caused by the cuper cyclone in the 12 districts of odissa

thank you!

references
www.Wikipedia.org
www.slideshare.com
www.godigit.com
www.gktoday.in
www.pintrest.com
www.jagranjosh.com
www.google.com
www.byjus.com