Cyclone Dana will be a litmus test for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Odisha, observers say. The BJP this year got the sole mandate for the first time to form the government in Odisha, after more than two decades of rule by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) under Naveen Patnaik. Odisha’s first-time BJP chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi will face a thorough comparison with his predecessor Naveen Patnaik in every sphere of activities. And the first such instance will be how his government handles the looming threat of Dana.
The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government set various benchmarks in dealing with natural disasters like cyclones during his more than two decades of governance. The BJD came to power in Odisha after a disastrous supercyclone in 1999. The then Congress government led by Giridhar Gamang failed to handle the storm that hit Odisha at more than 250 km/hr, killing more than 10,000 people and lakhs of domestic animals.
It was a big challenge for the Naveen Patnaik government to manage natural disaster-prone Odisha. The BJD government set up the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) in 2001 to deal with natural calamities, which also inspired the Centre to form a similar disaster response team NDRF in 2006.
ODRAF received adequate training and equipment to deal with such situations. The state administration established proper coordination among the meteorology department, relief commission, and district administration to deal with any natural disasters. Proper and prior communication among administrations, keeping people aware of upcoming threats, evacuation to safe places, rehabilitation, etc, were ensured over time under Naveen Patnaik’s government. Building shelter homes helped shift affected people and domestic animals to safe places during any natural disaster. The system developed with such efficiency that natural disasters like Cyclone Phailin in 2013 saw zero human casualties, while 1 million people were evacuated at short notice, receiving praise at the international level.
Cyclone Dana is predicted to hit the Odisha coast around October 24-25. The Mohan Majhi government has held several meetings and discussions and instructed district administrations to act accordingly. The Odisha government has announced the closure of schools in coastal districts and begun preparations for “100% evacuation” of people from areas at risk of maximum destruction, reports say. Rescue teams have been deployed in districts likely to be affected. People there have been advised to move to safe places. Relief work is also being planned. Tourists in places like Puri that are at risk have been asked to move to safe cities or leave. Choppers are on standby for rescue and relief work. The central government has also extended full support to Odisha to deal with the cyclone.
The Odisha government on Tuesday said it has kept ready around 800 cyclone shelters for people who will be evacuated from vulnerable areas. Officials have so far visited 250 cyclone relief centres where people will be housed after evacuation, Odisha revenue and disaster management minister Suresh Pujari said, adding that food, water, medicine, electricity and other essentials are kept in readiness for those to be evacuated.
“Given the cyclone Dana, two teams of NDRF have arrived here and we have all the necessary equipment to carry out the rescue operations,” NDRF team commander PK Jadav told ANI in Kendrapara. “We will follow all the guidelines which will be given by the district administration.”
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