About cyclones
⦁ Cyclones are rapid inward air circulation around a low-pressure area. The air circulates in an anticlockwise direction in the Northern hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern hemisphere.
⦁ Cyclones are usually accompanied by violent storms and bad weather.
There are two types of cyclones:
⦁ Tropical cyclones; and
⦁ Extra Tropical cyclones (also called Temperate cyclones).
How does a cyclone form?
There are six factors responsible for the formation of the cyclone:
⦁ Sufficient warm temperature at sea surface
⦁ Atmospheric instability
⦁ Impact area of Coriolis force so that low pressure can be developed
⦁ High humidity in the lower to middle levels of the troposphere
⦁ A pre-existing low-level focus or disturbance
⦁ Low vertical wind shear.
India and cyclones
India has had a very vulnerable status with respect to cyclones and their adverse effects in almost all factions be it Loss of lives, livelihood opportunities, damage
to public and private property and severe damage to infrastructure. because India has a coastline of around 7,500 km, of which about 5,700 km are prone to cyclones of various degrees. About eight per cent of the Country’s area and one-third of it’s population live in 13 coastal states and UTs who are, thus vulnerable to cyclone related disasters.
Though the frequency of Tropical Cyclones (TCs)in the NIO(North Indian Ocean) covering the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea is the least in the world (7% of the global total), their impact on the east coast of India
as well as the Bangladesh coast is relatively more devastating. This is evident from the fact that in the last 270 years, 21 of the 23 major cyclones (with a loss of about 10,000 lives or more) worldwide
occurred in the aforesaid area. Estimated 32 crores people, which accounts for almost a third of the country’s total population, are vulnerable to cyclone related hazards.
Cyclone management in India
The main purpose of cyclone management is to minimize the brutal transition of natural hazards into natural disasters .Cyclone management should take all facets of cyclone and its ancillary effects into account broadly speaking , cyclone management should start right away as soon as they are predicted by Meterological establishments and should include all the necessary steps like early warning and dissemination of the same to vulnerable public, prearrangement of planned action plan, evacuation and relocation , and finally providing relief measures to affected ones.
the measure which are proposed by NDMA are listed below-:
⦁ Establishing a state-of-the-art cyclone EWS(Early Warning System) involving scientific observations, time bound predictions, dissemination of warnings and providing localized action plans for decision-makers(national/state/district level) for managing the impact of cyclones.
⦁ Commissioning of Aircraft Probing of Cyclone (APC) facility for India with a combination of manned aircraft and high altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). the actual flight of an aircraft near the cyclone can provide timely and vital information about advancement of the cyclone.
⦁ .Commissioning of the National Disaster Communication Infrastructure (NDCI) at various levels of disaster management in India for eg NDMA , SDMAs and DDMAs of districts vulnerable to cyclones for better coordination in cyclone management measures
⦁ Ensuring that all people vulnerable to cyclone are provided with timely warning and dissemination of the same could be done by using the services of Direct-To-Home (DTH) transmission in remote and rural areas
⦁ Structural safety of lifeline infrastructure in coastal areas both for humans and animals which include shelters , all weather roads, resilient rail-road networks, etc.
⦁ Cyclone mapping: to effectively manage the cyclones in a localized manner as the cyclone vulnerability is not uniform all over India and even in a state . to demarcate the area according to its vulnerability and threat perception
⦁ Developing integrated hazard mitigation framework taking into account cyclones and all its ancillary effects for eg: floods , storm surge , etc.
⦁ . Establishing a comprehensive Cyclone Disaster Management Information System(CDMIS) roping in all relevant departments under DM act.
⦁ Safe evacuation and relocation of humans and livestock and other animals before and during the cyclone
⦁ Making the best use of expertise of various agencies and institutions in the times of need for eg; NDRF, Tri-services and other paramilitary forces
conclusion
With the advancement of technology , successive governments have able to contain the loss of lives owing to cyclones over the period of time because the loss to property can be compensated , it just takes times, but no time scale can fill the gap left by the departure of souls . Loss of lives is irreversible . So whenever the experts sit round the table to formulate the disaster management , prevention of loss of lives should be more accounted for.
source:
- The Hindu
- Wikipedia
- RS TV