Cyclone Vayu: Odisha shares its expertise with Gujarat

The Odisha government on Wednesday said it shared its cyclone handling expertise and experience, particularly in the evacuation process, with Gujarat which was all set to face Vayu—the severe cyclonic storm heading for its coastline.

“The Gujarat chief secretary talked to me and discussed our experience and expertise in the handling of cyclones, particularly the evacuation process that we had undertaken during cyclone Titli and the recent severe cyclonic storm, Fani”, state chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi told reporters.

Padhi said Odisha is also prepared to extend further help to Gujarat if necessary. “I told chief secretary our state is fully prepared to extend any further help if required”, the top administrator said.

Both during cyclone Titli and Fani, the Odisha government had evacuated lakhs of people to safer places before the catastrophes hit land which had helped in saving several lives. The state government’s efforts had been appreciated hugely by agencies and governments both within the country and outside.

More than ten lakh people had been shifted to safer places during the cyclone Fani that ravaged 14 coastal Odisha districts last month and only because of this move the death toll in the calamity was restricted to 64 only. A similar storm, the Super Cyclone, that had hit the eastern state 20 years back in 1999 had claimed more than ten thousand lives.