Avoiding disaster pre- & post-Biparjoy

Cyclone Biparjoy – its very name meaning ‘disaster’ – made landfall in coastal Saurashtra on Thursday evening. More than 50,000 people had already been evacuated into shelters. Loss of life has been minimal, but given wind speeds and rain, there has been damage to infrastructure. There is little doubt that, by and large, India‘s pre-disaster preparedness, and rescue and recovery systems, are working. The focus now must be to buttress the systems for restoring normalcy. Central, state and local governments will need to augment their capacities and develop standard operating procedures suited to the locale.

The storm has moved to Rajasthan, where there has also been disruption of electricity supply and infrastructure. Restoration must be a priority. Availability of supplies, particularly perishables, will be constrained. Waterlogging and fallen trees can make access difficult. The disposal of dead livestock and ruined crops needs to be undertaken on a priority basis. Failure to address these concerns could lead to health-related issues. The administration must step in with assistance to help people resume normal lives and earn their living. There also needs to be an assessment of impact on soil and productivity, and corrective measures taken. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), along with state authorities, should develop a post-disaster manual for extreme weather events. This is critical to help communities recover and restore normalcy.

Cyclone Biparjoy is now the longest-lived cyclone in both the pre-and post-monsoon Arabian Sea. The periodicity and intensity of extreme weather events will increase with warming temperatures. Building climate resilience into development must now become an imperative to avoid biparjoy.