Better Disaster Management
The Odisha government’s blunting of the death trail of Cyclone Phailin is a lesson in disaster management for all states, including Goa. To reduce casualties from over 10,000 deaths caused in the 1999 super cyclone to just about 16 in Odisha and 18 in total, even though meteorologically speaking this cyclone was a little less in strength than the super cyclone, is nothing short of an administrative marvel.
A few facets have been key to the Herculean mobilization in the state to avert human tragedy ~ sufficiently advance warning from the Indian Met department, the Odisha CM putting aside his differences with the Centre and calling on the PM and Defence Minister and asking for help, resultant mass evacuation of over 10 lakh people, creation of shelters and above all interdepartmental coordination to mount this gigantic effort.
Though Phailin touched a wind speed of 200 to 220 kmph, it was not classified as a super cyclone. But that did not deter it from causing massive devastation. Though it swept several states, Odisha bore most of the brunt with 2.34 lakh houses damaged, five lakh hectares of standing crop destroyed causing loss of Rs 2400 crore, which is crippling by any standards.
The national disaster management authority and the defence and paramilitary forces put in dedicated efforts, even putting their lives at risk. The speed of evacuation was also phenomenal. The evacuation began a good 72 hours prior to the cyclone making landfall. The state government had put one official in charge of each shelter, government servants were asked to work extra hours and BJD legislators were asked to fan out to each district and oversee evacuation efforts.
While lot of pot shots have been taken at the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik by the BJP and Congress, it is his leadership that has made all the difference between Phailin and the 1999 cyclone in Odisha when Giridhar Gamang was in-charge and who instead of evacuating people consulted his astrologer who told him that the cyclone would split into two and evade Odisha! Resolute political will, inspirational leadership and administrative acumen, along with on-the-spot critical decision making are important characteristics of a good leader in times of crisis.
This is what Goa has to learn from the Odisha disaster management success ~ that an astute leadership makes no bones in liaising with the Central government when interest of the state and its people is at stake. In Odisha, dedicated party leaders who took to the dirt roads and by-lanes to supervise evacuation operations and willing public servants who followed the directions of the chief minister and stepped out of their bureaucratic stupor and worked frantically to evacuate the people in time will bring its own rewards for the ruling Biju Janata Dal.
Goa is not free from threats such as natural calamities and manmade hazards. Though Goa has constituted Disaster Management Authorities for both districts, it is prompt response from these agencies that is often lacking. The heavy rains from the South West monsoon perennially make the dams in Goa a potential disaster threat to people living in villages that border the rivers. What provisions have been made for this eventuality? How habitable are the designated evacuation centres? What is the level of coordination between departments given interdepartmental rivalries? How reliable is the local weather bureau in giving advance warning that will make all the difference between life and death? In the case of Phailin, the Indian Met Department stood vindicated since its forecast was timely, its ability to gauge the wind speeds was correct beating even the US forecast. This was possible due to improvement of the observation system and improvement of human resources. Is Goa working on both these aspects?
