Tackling the recent cyclone Fani has brought many laurels to the country and some valuable lessons. The robust demonstration of science and technology (S&T) behind all aspects of preparedness, and consequent administrative action to save people and property, has indeed been highly laudable. This has also brought our abilities to deal with natural calamities into sharp focus in the international arena. The accurate prediction of cyclonic storm, mapping its trajectory and predicting the likely affected areas with high accuracy have been possible through painstaking collection of meteorological data and its computational modelling.
Another important aspect of mitigating effects of a cyclonic storm is to facilitate and achieve the ability of mass movement of people to safer areas at a short notice. Typically, safer areas are made up of buildings or shelters, which are resistant to high winds, storm surges and rains and where the velocity of swirling winds gradually diminishes. Floods that accompany cyclonic storms in coastal areas are usually responsible for the majority loss of human lives.
It is apparent that design of the shelter buildings should be such that they not only withstand high winds, but also storm surges and flooding. CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre (CSIR-SERC), Chennai, pioneered the design of multi-purpose cyclone shelter in 1996-97. In the past, lack of appropriately designed buildings had been one of the factors causing high casualties. CSIR-SERC partnered with the Indian Red Cross Society to deploy the cyclone-resistant shelters across Odisha. It is estimated that these shelters have saved lives of lakhs of people during cyclone Phailin in 2013, and recently during cyclone Fani.
The “cyclone shelters”, designed by CSIR-SERC, are typically constructed on stilts keeping in view the floods accompanying the cyclonic storms. The buildings are rectangular structures, but rounded at the corners (aerodynamically shaped) with a view to achieving a smooth air flow (with reduced vortices) and thus enabling the buildings to withstand the intensity of the gusty winds. Moreover, the rooftops are also rounded, with upwards curving. Finally, the design of the buildings is tested in one of the most significant steps, which is to carry out the design in an Atmospheric Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel.
The wind tunnel is a highly specialised facility available in only a few places in the country such as CSIR-SERC, Chennai, and IIT-Kanpur etc. It provides an opportunity to test a model building in simulated atmospheric wind flow conditions, where the model is subjected to various wind speeds, and many different parameters are monitored in order to estimate as well as minimise the wind-induced loading. These results also form the basis of developing guidelines for wind load evaluation to be adopted in the Indian Codes of Practice.
Research has played a key role in saving lives of millions of people in cyclone Fani. All the scientific fraternity of the country—university researchers, IITs, IISc, India Meteorological Department and the national laboratories such as the CSIR—deserve applause. It is correctly said that scientific discoveries are made anywhere around the globe, but technological advances are made for the local needs. Challenges remain in other areas of tackling natural calamities, but considering the strength of scientific community in India across CSIR laboratories, universities and other academic institutions, and the creative technological solutions that they are capable of evolving, there is no doubt that these challenges will be handled effectively in future.
Shekhar C Mande
shekhar.mande@gmail.com
Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research,