Natural calamities have been part of human history since the wheels of civilization started rolling. And although after each such tragedy there are trails of unspeakable  destruction involving massive loss of  life and property, there are also lessons which are to be learnt since they throw light on  the drawbacks of  disaster mitigation exercises and compels a  re-look  for overcoming  them in future. Fani, the dreaded super cyclone visited the eastern region of the country last  week with Odisha being the most to bear its brunt. Considerable loss has been calculated, but surprisingly there’s not  where all the attention has  fallen. Instead, that what has attracted limelight and is now at the centre of discussion is the way Odisha has managed to keep casualties to an enviable minimum. Indeed, May 2019  will always be remembered as  their success story, achieved out of  lessons the state learnt a hard way, from a similar disaster that ravaged  twenty years ago, way back in October 1999.

And the success details this time in dealing with Fani can only be understood if studied in  light of 1999 tragedy. It was the same place and with equally ferocious intensity when the super cyclone  wiped out villages and killed at least 10,000 people. Bodies of  people discovered  miles away from  places they inhabited only speaks about the severity of the destruction episode. But this time the story is very much different with death toll as of now, within 30. The remarkable feat is the outcome of a serious homework, not done at the threshold of Fani, but carried over these last 20 years. A few examples of preparedness will explain how fine-tuned the disaster management apparatus was kept for facing the impending exigencies. Within a span of 24 to 36 hours, over 11 lakh people across 13 districts  were efficiently evacuated  to safer  places in over 5000 make-shift shelters. There were  more than 2.6 million  warning text messages  and   deployment of  over 43,000 volunteers and nearly 1,000 emergency workers. Repeated wake-up calls through televisions, coastal sirens and public address systems  in local language ultimately paid off. Credit also goes to the accurate prediction of the  country’s Meteorological Department who supplied  hour to hour  updates.

This  is perhaps the first in the disaster management history of the country when mass casualties  have been successfully  averted sheerly out of  combined efforts of a rescue front which has displayed enormous determination and employed all machineries to their optimum levels of efficiencies. This is in sharp contrast to the generally accepted notion that  public  delivery systems in the country remain  dysfunctional in  most  of the times.

Odisha’s Fani success will perhaps act as a benchmark for the nitty-gritties of  the subject of disaster management and also a lesson for all states to learn.

Natural calamities have been part of human history since the wheels of civilization started rolling. And although after each such tragedy there are trails of unspeakable  destruction involving massive loss of  life and property, there are also lessons which are to be learnt since they throw light on  the drawbacks of  disaster mitigation exercises and compels a  re-look  for overcoming  them in future. Fani, the dreaded super cyclone visited the eastern region of the country last  week with Odisha being the most to bear its brunt. Considerable loss has been calculated, but surprisingly there’s not  where all the attention has  fallen. Instead, that what has attracted limelight and is now at the centre of discussion is the way Odisha has managed to keep casualties to an enviable minimum. Indeed, May 2019  will always be remembered as  their success story, achieved out of  lessons the state learnt a hard way, from a similar disaster that ravaged  twenty years ago, way back in October 1999.

 

And the success details this time in dealing with Fani can only be understood if studied in  light of 1999 tragedy. It was the same place and with equally ferocious intensity when the super cyclone  wiped out villages and killed at least 10,000 people. Bodies of  people discovered  miles away from  places they inhabited only speaks about the severity of the destruction episode. But this time the story is very much different with death toll as of now, within 30. The remarkable feat is the outcome of a serious homework, not done at the threshold of Fani, but carried over these last 20 years. A few examples of preparedness will explain how fine-tuned the disaster management apparatus was kept for facing the impending exigencies. Within a span of 24 to 36 hours, over 11 lakh people across 13 districts  were efficiently evacuated  to safer  places in over 5000 make-shift shelters. There were  more than 2.6 million  warning text messages  and   deployment of  over 43,000 volunteers and nearly 1,000 emergency workers. Repeated wake-up calls through televisions, coastal sirens and public address systems  in local language ultimately paid off. Credit also goes to the accurate prediction of the  country’s Meteorological Department who supplied  hour to hour  updates.

This  is perhaps the first in the disaster management history of the country when mass casualties  have been successfully  averted sheerly out of  combined efforts of a rescue front which has displayed enormous determination and employed all machineries to their optimum levels of efficiencies. This is in sharp contrast to the generally accepted notion that  public  delivery systems in the country remain  dysfunctional in  most  of the times.

Odisha’s Fani success will perhaps act as a benchmark for the nitty-gritties of  the subject of disaster management and also a lesson for all states to learn.

Natural calamities have been part of human history since the wheels of civilization started rolling. And although after each such tragedy there are trails of unspeakable  destruction involving massive loss of  life and property, there are also lessons which are to be learnt since they throw light on  the drawbacks of  disaster mitigation exercises and compels a  re-look  for overcoming  them in future. Fani, the dreaded super cyclone visited the eastern region of the country last  week with Odisha being the most to bear its brunt. Considerable loss has been calculated, but surprisingly there’s not  where all the attention has  fallen. Instead, that what has attracted limelight and is now at the centre of discussion is the way Odisha has managed to keep casualties to an enviable minimum. Indeed, May 2019  will always be remembered as  their success story, achieved out of  lessons the state learnt a hard way, from a similar disaster that ravaged  twenty years ago, way back in October 1999.

And the success details this time in dealing with Fani can only be understood if studied in  light of 1999 tragedy. It was the same place and with equally ferocious intensity when the super cyclone  wiped out villages and killed at least 10,000 people. Bodies of  people discovered  miles away from  places they inhabited only speaks about the severity of the destruction episode. But this time the story is very much different with death toll as of now, within 30. The remarkable feat is the outcome of a serious homework, not done at the threshold of Fani, but carried over these last 20 years. A few examples of preparedness will explain how fine-tuned the disaster management apparatus was kept for facing the impending exigencies. Within a span of 24 to 36 hours, over 11 lakh people across 13 districts  were efficiently evacuated  to safer  places in over 5000 make-shift shelters. There were  more than 2.6 million  warning text messages  and   deployment of  over 43,000 volunteers and nearly 1,000 emergency workers. Repeated wake-up calls through televisions, coastal sirens and public address systems  in local language ultimately paid off. Credit also goes to the accurate prediction of the  country’s Meteorological Department who supplied  hour to hour  updates.

This  is perhaps the first in the disaster management history of the country when mass casualties  have been successfully  averted sheerly out of  combined efforts of a rescue front which has displayed enormous determination and employed all machineries to their optimum levels of efficiencies. This is in sharp contrast to the generally accepted notion that  public  delivery systems in the country remain  dysfunctional in  most  of the times.

Odisha’s Fani success will perhaps act as a benchmark for the nitty-gritties of  the subject of disaster management and also a lesson for all states to learn.

---

Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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