Ensure cities can endure strong storms

Odisha has done it again. Cyclone Fani, the strongest storm to batter the coastal districts since the 1999 super cyclone that claimed over 10,000 lives, passed without inflicting any major human casualty. While the toll remained below 50 even as Fani pummelled the most populous areas including the state’s largest cities Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri, the world stood up once again to applaud what is now known as the Odisha model of disaster management.

A record 11.6 lakh people were evacuated from Fani’s path and moved to the safety of cyclone shelters in only 24 hours. This feat saved thousands of lives from the catastrophic impact of the cyclone. This is not an achievement that was done in a day. It was an outcome of sustained efforts over the last 20 years—to remove the blot of super cyclone off the state’s image. The state has mastered the ways of protecting its people from its most regular and ferocious tormentor. Be it Phailin in 2013, Hudhud in 2014 or Titli last year—Odisha has showcased the efficiency of its Zero Casualty policy.

It has become an example for even the most developed countries in the world.But the government somehow seems to have taken the Zero Casualty approach to be the only aspect of disaster resilience. It has neglected another important angle: developing calamity-resilient crucial infrastructure. After Fani, power, water supply and communication have completely collapsed in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack thus pushing around two million people into deep misery. Ensuring the supply of power is critical as all other services are dependent on it. Power infrastructure is also the first casualty in a cyclone.

Though the twin cities were slated to move to an underground power cabling system, the work has been limping on for years together. If it had been completed, normalcy would have been restored within no time. The government thus needs to now focus on building a cyclone-resilient infrastructure which would not only shield the population from cyclones but also lessen the gigantic economic impact of calamities.