Cyclone Hudhud is no Phailin, but panicky coastal Odisha taking no chances

Bhubaneshwar: As he emerged out of a customary ‘high-level review meeting’ on Wednesday, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made it a point to emphasise that his government was bracing for ‘Cyclone Hudhud’ just the way it had done in the case of ‘Cyclone Phailin’ exactly a year ago.

The note of triumphalism was understandable.

After all, his government had earned worldwide acclaim, including a citation from a UN body, for the way it had handled ‘Phailin’. But at least part of the bravado can be attributed to the knowledge that ‘Hudhud’ is not going to be anywhere close in severity to that of its predecessor, nor is it likely to hit the Gopalpur coast in south Odisha that had borne the brunt of the cyclone last time round.

By Wednesday morning, it had become clear that ‘Hudhud’ would make landfall somewhere in north Andhra Pradesh between Gopalpur and Vishakhapatnam. This meant that while there would be some peripheral damage on the southern coast of the state, it would almost certainly not be on the scale of ‘Phailin’.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General LS Rathore confirmed this later in the day in New Delhi.

While wind speed at landfall during ‘Phailin’ was 210 km per hour, Hudhud would bring winds of up to 140 km/hr, gusting up to a maximum of 155 km/hr, he said.

Given the remarkable accuracy with which the IMD had tracked the course and the intensity of the storm till landfall and even thereafter during ‘Phalin’, it would be a brave man indeed who would contest the IMD projections.

The IMD had stuck to its guns till the very end predicting a wind speed of 210 km/hr even as a US-based weather monitoring site said wind speeds could go up to 315 km/hr. In the end, it was IMD which had the last laugh.

The fact that Cyclone Hudhud is unlikely to have a landfall on the Odisha coast, however, brings no solace for the beleaguered people of Ganjam, the ‘home’ district of the chief minister, who bore the brunt of the cyclone last time and are still rebuilding their shattered lives and livelihoods.

Even if landfall happens some distance away from the Ganjam coast, there is bound to be substantial damage in the area since ‘very severe cyclonic storms’ like Hudhud invariably impact a large land mass. Besides, for the poor, who mostly leave in mud-walled, thatched houses, even a wind speed of 140 km/hr is enough for their entire world to be turned upside down.

[An interesting aside here. Ahead of the by-election to the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat, the BJP has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission accusing the ruling BJD of violating the model code of conduct by distributing cheques by way of house building assistance to people in Ganjam, who had lost their houses in Phailin a year ago. So much for the ‘UN recognition’!>

Apart from the damage that it is certain to cause in Ganjam and adjoining Gajapati district, ‘Hudhud’ is also likely to trigger flash floods in the Bansadhara, Nagabali and Rushikulya rivers, which would cause large scale devastation in almost all of southern Odisha, more so in the Koraput and Malkangiri districts.

Depending on the duration, spread and the intensity of rains that accompany the storm, there could be flood threats in other parts as well, including the crucial Mahanadi basin.

A bigger challenge than the floods for the Odisha government at the moment, however, is ensuring a supply of essentials in areas likely to be affected by the cyclone and floods.

Despite clear indications that Hudhud is not quite Phailin and despite repeated pleadings by the government, people are buying essential commodities – and huge quantities of them – as if there is no tomorrow.

As it invariably happens in Odisha in such times, potato has been the most sought item since news of the cyclone began hogging the headlines.

In the state capital of Bhubaneswar, the must-eat item in every Odia home was selling for Rs 45-50 a kg till Wednesday afternoon, but simply vanished from the markets by the time evening approached.

“This was bound to happen when people, who would normally buy no more than a kg or two of potato, were picking up 25-kg bags no matter what the rate,” said Sudhakar Panda, secretary of the Odisha Byabasayi Sangh.

Given the indiscriminate panic buying of essential commodities by the people, there is reason to apprehend that other items like vegetables, eggs, chuda (flattened rice), batteries and match boxes could also do the vanishing trick by the time Hudhud reaches land on Sunday.

The panic among consumers suits the traders just fine. They know this is the time to make hay, secure in the knowledge that the administration would be too busy looking after the preparations – and after that the rescue and relief operations – to crack down on them.

He may have won kudos for conquering Phailin. But this is one battle that Naveen Patnaik lost last time and looks set to lose this time too.