Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 12.5.19
Cyclone Fani
Cyclone Fani
(pronounced Phoni, means hood of a snake, name given by Bangladesh) made
landfall on 3 May at coastal town of Puri, a popular tourist spot in Eastern
India. Puri is also the abode of Lord Jagannath, one of the four dhams of the Hindus. Though Odisha is
cyclone-prone, Puri has not faced the wrath of a cyclone for a long time. This
has made the sevayats of Puri temple often say, Puri is protected by Lord
Jagannath. No cyclone can touch this place. In deed the 1999 super cyclone
spared Puri. So did Titli, Hudhud, Phailin. But they were wrong this time.
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| Cyclone Fani ravaged Bhubaneswar Railway Station on 4 May 2019. Photo: Sanjiv Mukherjee |
Fani struck and
struck with ferocity. The winds speed was over 250 km per hour, enough to blow
an able bodied person off its feet or turn a 52 seater bus turtle or twist the
electric poles and tower beyond recognition or uproot trees. It did all these
and more in eleven coastal districts and the state capital city Bhubaneswar,
considered to be Number 1 smart city of the country. Fani ripped apart its
smartness in four hours flat. Bhubaneswar has not returned to normalcy even as
I write this column on four and half days after the cyclone struck. Three
fourth of the city is still without electricity. People are facing worst kind
of water scarcity. Connectivity is still a big problem. So is communication.
Fani shook us.
Rattled us. Showed us our place in the scheme of nature. It left with a
message, loud and clear: respect nature. Or get wiped off.
Cyclone Fani 2
Water supply is
the major problem in all cyclone ravaged city and towns, which are dependent on
piped water supply, which again is dependent on electricity supply. People can
live for a day or two without electric light, but not without water. There are
few hand operated tube wells. Even if some people have water in their sumps without
electricity supply they are not able to lift that to the overhead tanks.
Private generator-walas are charging a fortune to lift water to the overhead
water tanks.
I am told Andhra
Govt has already sent tens of thousands of water pouches. However, equitable
distribution remains a challenge, as the lumpen elements try to snatch and
forcibly take away these. Lessons learnt: 1. We must have some hand operated
tube wells in cities and towns. 2. Underground cabling to pre-empt disruption
of electricity supply 3. Where that is not possible, use cyclone resistant
electric poles 4. Fill up water tankers and position them strategically as soon
as the cyclone warning is released. It should be part of Standard Operating
Procedure (SOP) 4. Distribution of food, water and relief materials must be
orderly and equitable.
Cyclone Fani 3
There have been
incidents of theft and looting even as the cyclone was razing. After the
cyclone, there have been incidents of road blockade demanding relief and
resumption of electricity and water supply. People are scared of theft as the
cities plunge into darkness. Prices of all essential commodities including
water have skyrocketed in Cyclone ravaged areas.
Why do some
people behave like this? We take pride in the fact that we are part of an
ancient civilization. Have we been civilized? Can't we face a natural calamity
together without trying to take advantage of it by exploiting, looting others.
Cyclone Fani 4: Those who worked silently
Crisis tests the
mettle of man and also organisations. Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force
(ODRAF) and all personnel involved in minimising the effect of the cyclone and
bringing back normalcy after Cyclone Fani wreaked havoc in coastal districts of
Odisha did and doing exemplary work. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated
in matters of hours and housed at safe places. This minimised the casualty
figure and earned praise from all around including an advertisement by Amul.
The efficiency and commitment level of the
team engaged in bringing back normalcy is very high. After the 150 km cyclone
hit Dhenkanal at around 11 am and continued till afternoon,uprooting several
electric poles and big trees- the electricity supply was resumed by midnight.
East coast railways and Airport Authority have done commendable job by resuming
train and air service from Bhubaneswar even as the station and airport lie in a
shambles.
Media in Odisha
did an excellent job in Cyclone Fani coverage. From educating people about the
cyclone, to warning them to take appropriate steps, to ground coverage of the
cyclone affected areas, to post cyclone coverage - they did an excellent job
overall. There were some glitches, of course. Certain areas could have been
done differently and better. But overall excellent. But DD and AIR,
unfortunately lagged behind. At 9 pm on 3 May
as there was no electricity so no TV and we wanted to news of Puri where
my in laws live, I tuned to AIR, Cuttack for cyclone news. What I got was
bhajan extolling Bajrangbali. I tuned to AIR, Rainbow. What I got was Ghajal,
about love and sweetheart. I was later told they were airing hourly bulletins.
AIR should have done more than that. when a crisis of this proportion,
impacting one third of the population of Odisha loomed large.
Cyclone Fani 5: What we learnt?
Natural Calamities
brings out many facets of our personalities which are yet unknown even to us. My
friend J.P.Jagdev, who is in Bhubaneswar with family without electricity and
water supply and phone and net connectivity has discovered some. This is what
he has posted in social media: The recent disaster showed it to us:
1. You don't need
electricity to survive.
2. You shall sleep
in heat and humidity without a fan or AC if you are sleepy enough.
3. You are happy
knowing nothing about the world if you are just with your family and friends
and your neighborhood - safe.
4. Your fridge
stored mostly food which is not great for your health.
5. You find some
solution if you stay calm and respond without reacting and complaining.
6. Nature is all powerful
and we must respect it without trying to subjugate it.
7. The cyclone
could blow away buildings and telecom tower; but can’t do anything to our local
mosquitoes.
8. We need very few
things to lead a happy life but we have been sacrificing our happiness chasing
things thinking acquisition of which will make us happy...
Tailpiece: True Heart
Meanwhile results
of CBSC have been declared.
Before exam Boy to
his girl-friend
Boy: Hey, All the
best
Girl Friend: All
the best to you too
Exam. result declared.
Girl scored 90 marks and boy failed.
Moral: Only boys
wish with true heart.
(Courtesy: Social
Media)
***
The author, a journalist turned media
academician lives in Central Odisha town of Dhenkanal. An anthology of his
weekly column Window Seat, published
in 2018 has been published as a book. Write to him to get a free e-copy. mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com
This column is published every Sunday in Gangtok based English daily Sikkim Express and www.orisswadiary.com
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