Introduction
The Cyclone Amphan is deemed the most severe storm in the Bay of Bengal since 1999, and it battered the Indian States of West Bengal and Odisha on 20th May 2020.
Steps Once the Cyclone passes
- The states now need to carry out a detailed assessment of what Amphan has done.
- The next phase of work starts now: Rebuilding infrastructure and reaching out to people with food, clean water and medical help.
- Some Important Issues:
- People in temporary shelters would be Homeless
- Farmers would have lost crops and livestock
- Saline water would ingress into fields and homes in Sunderbans: Affecting soil Quality.
Other lessons to learn from the Cyclone
- Cyclone Amphan is also a reminder that oceans are warming due to rising emissions, and warm ocean water is a key ingredient for the formation of tropical cyclones.
- The number of cyclones in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal has increased by 32% in the last five years, says IMD data.
- However, the solutions — tackling the sources of global warming, and investing in and upgrading climate resilience and adaptation techniques — are complex processes and expensive.
- It also needs tremendous political will and people’s support and participation to ensure that development is sustainable.
- But it has to be done; otherwise, the costs, as Cyclone Amphan has shown, will be massive and recurring.
Analysis: Where do cyclones occur in India?
- More cyclones occur in the Bay of Bengal than the Arabian Sea and the ratio is approximately 4:1.
- The cyclones that occur between Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are known as Tropical Cyclones.
- These are weather systems in which winds equal or exceed gale force (minimum of 34 knot, i.e., 62 kmph).
Which states are the most cyclone-affected in India?
- Indian sub-continent is the worst affected region of the world, having a coastline of 7516 kms.
- There are 13 coastal states/Union Territories encompassing 84 coastal districts which are affected by cyclones. Four states – Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and one Union Territory – Pondicherry on the East Coast are most vulnerable to cyclone disasters.
- Although cyclones affect the entire coast of India, the East coast is more prone as compared to the West coast.
How are cyclones managed in India?
- A number of structural and non-structural measures can be adopted for effective management of cyclones.
- The structural measures include construction of cyclone shelters, construction of cyclone resistant buildings, road links, culverts, bridges, canals, drains, saline embankments, surface water tanks, communication and power transmission networks etc.
- Non-structural measures involve early warning dissemination systems, management of coastal zones, awareness generation and disaster risk management and capacity building of all the stakeholders.
-Source: Hindustan Times, India TV
