Odisha's Disaster Risk Reduction: Coping with the Challenges of Cyclone Phailin
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Case Code: DISM003 Case Length: 16 Pages Period: 2013-2014 Pub Date: 2017 Teaching Note: Available |
Price: Rs.600 Organization: - Industry: - Countries: India Themes: Disaster Preparedness |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts
"If we do not address risk reduction, future losses from disaster will increase and this will impact countries’ capacity to invest money in other areas such as health and education. If we do not take the necessary measures now, it will be difficult to achieve development, let alone sustainable development."
- Margareta Wahlstrom, Head of United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNISDR, in March 2015.
Introduction
On October 12, 2013, a massive tropical cyclone, Phailin, brought torrential rainfall to the coastal areas of India, making landfall near Gopalpur in Ganjam district in Odisha, a state located in eastern India, at 9:15 pm (Indian Standard Time). The cyclone and the resulting floods brought widespread devastation in their wake, affecting more than 13.2 million people and forcing them to evacuate their homes. Thousands of trees were uprooted and houses, schools, crops, and the fishing industry suffered damage that ran into hundreds of millions of dollars. The damage to cell phone towers, telephone lines, and electric poles contributed to a communication blackout in the state. A total of 44 lives were lost as a result of the cyclone. The impact of Phailin was not much in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, the southern state in India, with a few trees uprooted and minimal damage to crops.
Though Phailin caused huge damage to infrastructure and crops in Odisha, disaster management experts commended the Odisha state government for limiting the loss of human lives. This was attributable to the proactive efforts of the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), formed after the 1999 Super Cyclone that had lashed Odisha, killing more than 10,000 people and causing damage of US$ 2 billion. In addition to this, the Super Cyclone damaged 275,000 homes and around 1.67 million people were homeless. The OSDMA played a significant role in the state’s response to Phailin, which was of similar intensity to the Super Cyclone of 1999.
Soon after the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued warning alerts on October 8, 2013 about the impending cyclone, local governments and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) swung into action and launched the largest evacuation operation in India in 23 years. They evacuated more than 900,000 people from several districts of Odisha, moving them to relief shelters ahead of the storm. Also, more than 30,000 animals were relocated to safer places.
To address any challenges arising due to the cyclonic storm, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) deployed 50 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams comprising more than 2,000 personnel. They were pre-positioned with rescue equipment in the vulnerable areas of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and the north eastern state of West Bengal. The teams were equipped with wireless sets and satellite phones to prevent a communication breakdown during the cyclone. In addition to this, paramilitary and defence personnel were positioned for carrying out relief and rehabilitation measures and for restoring any infrastructure affected by the cyclone.
The state governments of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh received appreciation from several quarters for their disaster preparedness, which resulted in mitigating the loss of human lives. Disaster management experts opined that disaster preparedness of Odisha, which was the worst affected, had helped the state in effectively handling Phailin and minimizing the loss of human lives. The then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh (Singh), also appreciated the state authorities, the district and police administration, relief workers, and staff of the NDMA, NDRF, and the IMD for taking preventive measures before the cyclone hit the states. Critics, however, pointed out that while the death toll was low compared to past cyclonic disasters in India, the estimated losses in Ganjam district due to Phailin stood at Rs. 30 billion with 240,000 houses being damaged and millions of people being deprived of their livelihood....
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