25 years since 1999 Super Cyclone: Odisha's journey from ruin to resilience

As another October rolled around, another cyclone hit Odisha’s coast along the Bay of Bengal. Although the latest, named Dana, was relatively moderate, the lessons from the 1999 Super Cyclone — one of the deadliest in the region — ensured zero casualty and minimal disruption to livelihoods. 

Back in 1999, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) detected a low-pressure system on October 24. In five days, a severe cyclonic storm — then called BoB 06 — made landfall near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur, wielding 250 kmph winds and pushing a

20-foot surge of seawater into the land. 

The Super Cyclone devastated Odisha, claiming 9,885 lives (with unofficial estimates even higher) and leaving millions without homes. A humanitarian crisis unfolded and public frustration grew over the state government’s muddled response — and this led to a political shift: The Biju Janata Dal, helmed by Naveen Patnaik, in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, swept into power, displacing the Congress which remains out of power in Odisha to date.

  The IMD had issued multiple cyclone warnings but concerns around the Super Cyclone’s severity largely went unheeded as both public and administration then considered it just another common storm in a region prone to cyclonic activity. The tragedy laid bare serious gaps in disaster preparedness: Inadequate location-specific landfall warnings, sparse resources, and virtually no communication strategy.

  Fast forward 25 years, the cyclone management system has gone through a sea change, recognised as an “Odisha success story” that the United Nations lauded as a “global example” in 2013 and 2014.

  This year, the IMD first signalled a cyclone threat on October 19, predicting a storm that would intensify and likely hit Odisha’s coast by October 24. In the next few hours, the Odisha government swung into action, alerting coastal district administrations and preparing cyclone shelters to evacuate residents.

  The Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and fire services personnel were put on standby. 

  When Cyclone Dana, classified as a severe cyclonic storm with winds peaking at 110 kmph, made landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra as predicted by the IMD, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi confirmed that Odisha had achieved a zero-casualty outcome. “Due to prompt action of the government and administration, the damage has been minimised,” he declared. This was the first major cyclone the Majhi government faced after unseating the long-ruling BJD. 

  However, nearby West Bengal wasn’t as fortunate, recording four fatalities linked to the storm.

  Despite comprising only 17 per cent of India’s east coast, Odisha’s 480-km coastline is affected by nearly 35 per cent of all cyclonic and severe cyclonic storms that impact the eastern seaboard, according to a 2021 World Bank study.

  “There’s a huge difference between the warning systems then and now,” IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra explained. In 1999, the IMD operated with a lone satellite, capturing images every three hours. Now, it has two satellites and scatterometers providing data every 15 minutes, supplemented by 39 Doppler radars for rainfall and wind data, automated weather stations, and digital platforms for instant communication — cutting response times from three hours to mere minutes.

Many of these upgrades, according to Mohapatra, were forged in the crucible of the 1999 disaster. 

In a study for economics and policy portal Ideas for India, Souryabrata Mohapatra, a faculty member at the National Council of Applied Economic Research in New Delhi, has pointed to four pillars underpinning Odisha’s disaster resilience: A multi-layered institutional framework, ground-up approach, extensive capacity-building, and investment in infrastructure and technology. 

Debi Prasad Bagchi, who became Odisha’s chief secretary in November 2000, recalled how monetary aid from agencies like the World Bank, Unicef, Nabard, and the now-defunct Department for International Development in the UK helped the state not just respond to disasters better but prevent them through better preparedness. “The first step in that direction was to transform schools in coastal areas into cyclone shelters,” Bagchi said.

 

  Within two months of the disaster, the state established India’s first state-level disaster management authority, the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), which allowed a decentralisation of disaster response to prevent bureaucratic delays. The approach, Bagchi said, later inspired the central government to create similar bodies in other states in the aftermath of the 2001 Kutch earthquake in Gujarat. Two officers from Odisha helped train those local teams. 

This was followed by enactment of a disaster management Act and the formation of the National Disaster Management Authority in 2005.

  At the heart of OSDMA’s strategy are early warning systems, evacuation plans, a network of cyclone shelters, and

embankments along vulnerable coastlines.

  Today, nearly 1,200 coastal villages receive real-time warnings through sirens and mass messaging systems, and over 800 multi-purpose cyclone shelters dot the coast, according to a November 2023 column by Pradeep Jena, former Odisha chief secretary, and Auguste Tano Kouamé, the World Bank’s country director

for India.

  “Importantly, the state departed from the conventional approach to disaster management by placing local communities at the heart of the effort,” wrote Jena and Kouamé.

  The state has also enlisted local communities, from gram panchayats to women self-help groups and a network of more than 100,000 volunteers — all trained to conduct rescue operations and mitigate disaster risks. 

Jagadananda, former information commissioner and social activist, said he led a civil society group that proposed the formation of a dedicated disaster management authority. “The partnership between civil society and government has been instrumental in limiting damage during disasters,” he said.

  Bagchi recounted how, during his term, the formation of ODRAF as a dedicated disaster response wing of the Odisha police added a crucial layer of support. The teams have visited states like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, and West Bengal to help during disasters.

  When Cyclone Phailin struck in 2013, Odisha had already honed its evacuation and response protocols -- it managed to evacuate nearly a million people, reducing casualties to a minimum. The response was similarly effective in 2019’s Cyclone Fani, which saw 1.2 million people relocated ahead of landfall.

  The state’s early warning system, introduced in 2018, ensures swift alerts for cyclones and tsunamis, while watchtowers at over 120 locations keep constant surveillance over the coast.

  Odisha has continued to invest in disaster resilience, with the Majhi government earmarking about Rs 3,900 crore for disaster response funds in the FY25 Budget, up from Rs 3,700 crore in FY24. 

In March 2023, the World Bank extended a $100 million loan to strengthen the state’s disaster management and social protection systems.

  The previous Patnaik government had also pledged Rs 2,000 crore to build disaster-resilient infrastructure, including automated weather forecasting and rain gauge stations across all panchayats, with World Bank assistance. 

Jagadananda, however, said challenges remain. Evacuating coastal populations to shelters each time strains the state’s administrative systems. “To address this, we should focus on constructing disaster-resilient houses,” he suggested, advocating for affordable, tailor-made disaster insurance policies for coastal residents.