Cyclone Tauktae tests already battered India’s resilience
If the second wave of the pandemic was not enough of a battering, Cyclone Tauktae has come as a parallel instrument of torture for the western Indian coastline. Mumbai is under a sheet of heavy rains and mostly underwater. All along from Kerala to Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and now charging towards Gujarat at a speed of 114-120 kmph. Nearly 1,50,000 people had to be evacuated to safe zones before the cyclone hit Porbandar. Along its path, there are uprooted trees and homes, disrupted power supply and train services, and over a dozen dead already. Even the contiguous parts of Rajasthan are expected to see heavy rainfall. The devastation of Cyclone Tauktae has stretched local authorities even further. Fighting a vicious pandemic is new, cyclones are not—but both together?
The Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal have been heating up due to climate change. The intensity of Tauktae is directly related to the Arabian Sea becoming a warm pool, at 30-31 degree Celsius. The frequency of cyclones we are witnessing in the eastern and western coasts can be correlated. Only a year ago, during the first wave of SARS-CoV-2, West Bengal was battered by Amphan, formed over the Bay. Right after that Cyclone Nisarga devastated Maharashtra, followed by Nivar that hit Puducherry. In the last four years, pre-monsoon cyclones over the Arabian Sea have become common. Can pandemics and cyclones be averted? If experts are to be believed, yes. Just like lifestyle diseases can be averted, with corrective and by adopting better ways of living, with better planning, both can be largely mitigated. India can do its bit to save its citizens, so can the world. If we’re to not just survive, but also thrive. The last may seem a remote possibility now, when firefighting is all that we’re engaged in.