Cyclone Ockhi that struck the Kanniyakumari district in Tamil Nadu and parts of Kerala has left many fishermen dead and about a thousand of them missing.
The large-scale loss of lives and livelihood has raised serious questions about disaster management and government response.
How was the disaster response?
There are three basic shortfalls in the government’s response:
the cyclone warning was delayed
the warning, when it came, was ineffective because it could not be communicated to thousands of fisherfolk who were already out at sea
once the cyclone struck, there was no war-like mobilisation and action for rescue operation
Moreover, the response from the Coast Guard and the Indian Navy was very poor, as per the fishermen reports.
The seaborne vessels and helicopters and vast array of ships, aircraft and state-of-the-art technology if deployed would have prevented loss of so many lives.
Coast Guard ships accompanied by fishermen from the villages as navigation assistants would have made easier the search process.
This was not carried out, and even when the Coast Guard did, it only went up to about 60 nautical miles.
It was reluctant to go beyond citing jurisdictional limitations.
The Disaster Management legislations, policies and mechanisms largely failed in making proper response in saving the lives, thus aggravating the disaster.
Why is Kanniyakumari more vulnerable?
Fishing - Kanniyakumari district in Tamil Nadu has one of the highest densities of fisherfolk in India.
Given the limited quantity of fish in nearshore waters, many fisherfolk have diversified into deep-sea and long-distance fishing.
Their fishing voyages sometimes last from ten days to more than a month.
Thus, the Indian Meteorological Department’s timing of cyclone warning just 12 hours before it hit the coast was futile.
Moreover, there are limitations for deep sea fishers in using satellite phones and other devices to facilitate boat-to-shore communications for security reasons.
Geography - How early the forecast is depends on how far the coast is from the place where the cyclone is emerging.
Many of the big cyclones like Phailin, Hudhud and Vardah developed near the Andaman Sea from where it took about five to six days to hit the coast.
But Ockhi originated near the south-western coast of Sri Lanka, and travelled very near the southern-most tip of the Indian mainland.
The origin of the cyclone much closer to the Kanniyakumari coast rendered the lead time for the forecast much less.
What lies ahead?
Compensation to the victims requires the combined efforts of the Central and State governments.
Climate change is resulting in changing weather patterns and coastal areas will need to adapt to hitherto unknown conditions, especially frequent storms.
Disaster warning mechanism thus needs a revamp and quick-response systems should be put in place.
The state government should certainly improve its communication systems.
The Met department needs to become more people-friendly and learn to issue jargon-free advisories.
Further, forming a separate Fisheries Ministry to address the issues associated with the fishermen community could prove to be a better administrative response.
