India: Cyclone Titli: Can Odisha protect vulnerable tribal districts?

By Jyoti Prakash Brahma

For a state that takes immense pride in disaster preparedness, severe cyclone Titli, which battered Odisha from October 11-14, came as a rude shock. After the storm subsided and heavy rainfall stopped, the Odisha government realised its fierce nature and unusual behaviour. An overconfident state machinery had initially mobilised its entire resources to minimise destruction in the coastal districts of Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam, and Puri. But after its landfall at Palasa in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh in the morning of October 11, Titli suddenly changed its direction in the next 12 hours and headed towards the southern interior districts of Gajapati, Rayagada and Kandhamal.

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The abrupt change in the nature of Titli, which affected some 6 million people, has forced the state to reframe its cyclone preparedness plan. On October 22, the state executive committee on disaster management, a nodal government body, chaired by Chief Secretary A P Padhi met in Bhubaneswar to chalk out cyclone preparedness plan for the interior hilly districts usually not hit by cyclones.

As part of the new plan, the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) will soon undertake a study with other organisations, which have expertise on landslide mapping. It will emphasise on the need to build cyclone shelters in hilly areas for the vulnerable populace, besides selection of suitable sites for relocation if necessary, the minutes of the meeting read. As per latest official estimates, 61 people have died and 16 are missing. The state requires Rs 2,770 crore for undertaking restoration work.

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Till now, Odisha had concentrated on protecting its coastal districts from storm surges and tsunamis. As a result, embankments and some 562 cyclone shelters have come up in Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and Puri. Even OSDMA had identified about 328 villages, all situated within 1.5 km of the coastline, way back in 2012. Cyclone shelters and development of early warning systems are totally missing in the hilly areas as they are not usually affected by storms. This explains the extensive damages in the two non-coastal districts in comparison to coastal ones.

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