DNA Exclusive: Cyclone Yaas, devastation, and the role of planning in facing nature's fury

New Delhi: Cyclone Yaas hit the eastern coast of India affecting several states. It came days after another cyclone Tauktae struck the coastal areas in the western part of the country. However, unlike Tauktae, the damage this time was very much limited, thanks to the effective planning by the disaster management authorities.

Zee News Anchor Sachin Arora on Wednesday (May 26) compared the impact of the two cyclones - Tauktae and Yaas – to stress upon the importance of planning in facing nature’s fury.

Cyclone Yaas hit the eastern coast this morning. The impact was felt in Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Bihar and Jharkhand. Earlier this month, cyclone Tauktae caused extensive damage in the states of western India.

There was not much difference between these two storms in terms of power. But despite this, more people lost their lives in the Tauktae and there was a lot of economic damage as well.

According to an estimate, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Daman Diu lost Rs 15,000 crores due to this storm. 104 people lost their lives. Whereas in Yaas, so far only two deaths have been reported.

Why is there such a big difference between the impact of these two storms? The answer is preparation and better planning.

Tauktae hit the coast of Gujarat on May 17. But about a week before, the Meteorological Department had issued a warning about it. The department issued several warning alerts.

But despite these warnings, some barge ships remained in the Arabian Sea. Perhaps this is the reason why most of those who died during this storm were those who did not return from the sea despite warnings.

This did not happen during Yaas. During this storm, the sea areas were systematically evacuated. About 15 lakh people were shifted from sea areas to safe places in West Bengal and 5 lakh people in Odisha. In Bihar and Jharkhand as well, such steps were taken.

Apart from this, 112 teams of NDRF were deployed in five states. 52 teams were deployed in Odisha and 45 teams in West Bengal. Each NDRF team consists of 47 members for carrying our rescue missions. Not only this, 50 teams were placed on standby to help in these states.

The same deployment of the NDRF took place during Tauktae, but due to the negligence of the people and inefficient management by the state governments, the massive damage could not be avoided.

Earlier, when storms hit the eastern and southeastern coastal states, there was a lot of havoc. But then these states learned to deal with the storms and started making better systems and plans for this.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was formed in 2006 after the 2004 tsunami. Today, the NDRF is the first in line to protect the country from natural disasters.

Just like the storms, there are several other things that come in waves. We are currently dealing with the waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, there are other waves as well such as the waves of sadness, mourning, emotions and happiness.

Just as the waves rise, they are bound to come down. The important thing is how one deals with these waves. If planning and preparation are done properly, these waves can be controlled.