How Trimming Of 3 Lakh Trees Prevented Deaths During Cyclone Biparjoy

When Biparjoy - the strongest cyclone in the Arabian Sea after Tauktae, according to both the weather office and Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) - was all set to make a fierce landfall in Gujarat on Wednesday, the Centre and state were mindful of the trail of devastation it will lead to. Memories of the devastating cyclone that hit Gujarat in June 1998 that led to the death of 10,000 people and the total destruction of Kandla port were still fresh in many minds.

A coordinated effort involving at least nine ministers and nine bureaucrats was put in place a week earlier to monitor the evacuation of at least one lakh people from at least nine high-risk districts ensuring the provision of essentials to them, including restoration of transmission and communication lines. It was also to monitor the safety of cattle in Kutch and other coastal areas.

Experts note that in the satellite era (since 1982), Cyclone Biporjoy - with a maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 150 kmph - is the fourth longest-lived cyclone during the pre-monsoon season in the Arabian Sea. All the efforts were centred around the target of "zero deaths" and the Gujarat government has credited accurate predictions and early preparedness for the cyclone resulting in no deaths. The record of no causality is an achievement for the state and Centre, particularly during the cyclone of this magnitude.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a mention of this in his radio programme, Mann Ki Baat, this morning. He said the strength of disaster management that India has developed over the years is becoming an example today and that even though Cyclone Biparjoy caused great damage in Kachchh, people of the state faced it with full courage and preparedness and will come out of it successfully.

Preparations started as soon as the IMD predictions came about, and on June 11, the Gujarat government deputed one minister of the state to each district. Once the magnitude of the cyclone becoming extremely severe was clearer, Central ministers were deputed to camp in the most-affected areas in and around Saurashtra's Gir-Somnath, Porbandar, Junagadh, Jamnagar and Kutch districts.

Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya was sent to the worst-affected Kutch while Parshottam Rupala, minister for fisheries and dairy, was deployed in Dwarka, IT Mos Devusinh Chauhan was sent to Jamnagar, while MoS for railways Darshan Jardosh was sent to Porbandar, and Mahendra Mujnjapura who is MoS , women and child development was asked to be Gir-Somnath.

PM Modi himself reviewed the preparations and also spoke with Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel a number of times to ensure preparations for the safety of not just the people, but also cattle and the lions of Gir. Mr Mandaviya was also among the ministers who were rushed to Balasore to be part of the relief and rescue efforts in the aftermath of the triple-train tragedy that led to 175 deaths. He was particularly given the responsibility of ensuring the embalming of the dead bodies and their preservation as relatives took time to travel from remote areas to claim them.

The immediate tasks at hand for the ministers were:

• Asking district administration to identify shelter homes.
• Ensuring the evacuation of over 1 lakh people through persuasion and traditional forms of communication.
• Arrangement of essentials such as food, water, milk powder, medicines, and even cribs in shelter homes.
• Removal of 4317 hoardings and trimming of 3,37,890 trees so that the injuries due to them are minimised.
• Deploying of 19 NDRF and 13 SDRF teams across the state.
• Safety of ports - Jakhau, Mundhra, Kandla and Mandvi that control significant economic activity and transport of essentials.

Work on Mission mode based on Lessons from the past

According to those in the know of the matter, it was PM Modi's suggestion to trim the trees on a war footing. He added that lessons from past cyclones showed that maximum damage to life was due to parts of trees falling on people. Nearly three lakh trees were trimmed in five days, and 76,000 cattle were moved to safer areas, officials said.

District Administration, State Government, Central Government and along with it Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, BSF and all the Central agencies were also made part of coordination meetings.

"The Morbi bridge collapse taught us that quick decision-making is key in a crisis. Which is why 1127 teams were kept on standby in eight districts. The Garud team of IAF was sounded out and they helped a great deal like they did in Morbi," an official said.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel presided over nine meetings to review the preparations, while Home Minister Amit Shah presided over two. Mr Shah also took an aerial survey of the affected areas on Saturday and also met pregnant women, children and farmers at shelter homes.

Nearly 1,08,208 people were evacuated and shifted to nine districts. According to official records, nearly 4,000 houses have been damaged, and efforts have begun to help people rebuild them.

"Nearly 649 roads were affected, 624 have been operational and on 25 Roads Tree removal is in progress," an official said. Nearly 1,152 pregnant women were shifted to safer medical centres in view of the cyclone. Of these, 707 women delivered their babies at the medical centres where they were shifted ahead of the cyclone's landfall.

"The most important work was to map the houses that were in a radius of five to ten km. In Kutch alone,122 were identified, of which 75 were seen as the most vulnerable," the official added.

Safety of the ports was paramount

Under the threat of potential damage were the ports of Jakhau, Mundhra, Kandla and Mandvi that make for a significant amount of the country's cargo and logistics. Each of these ports claims to facilitate the movement of at least 10,000 trucks in a day. "The activities of the ports, all loading, unloading activities were brought to a standstill and the labourers were taken to different shelter homes."

Cattle- the Central concern in Kutch and coastal Gujarat

There are over two lakh cattle in the district of Kutch alone, and most of it was in the coastal areas. "They had to be taken to higher areas, and arrangements for their fodder had to be made. They had to be kept in open spaces. And people also had to be convinced," the official added.

Accurate predictions by IMD helped to save lives

The central team of the IMD tracked the cyclonic team minutely giving timely inputs to all the agencies and officials involved. Use of sophisticated technology like multiple satellites improved the weather modelling system in coordination with international weather agencies, land-based stations helped in accurate predictions, officials said.

Challenges remain

While the damage to life has been contained, hundreds of houses will have to be rebuilt, and many in Kutch that has seen many disasters, from earthquake to cyclones in the past, will have to build their lives from scratch. Amit Shah said electricity will be restored in the entire cyclone-affected area by June 20.

The storm caused extensive financial loss to the state power utility Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited with 5,120 electricity poles getting damaged and work on restoring transmission will begin soon, officials said. As many as 4,600 villages were left without power, but electricity supply was restored in 3,580 villages, nearly 4,000 houses have been damaged, and efforts have begun to help people rebuild them.