Can cyclones be tamed to suit the needs of the society?

Though 36 persons lost their lives and hundreds of huts and dwellings were devastated by Cyclone Thane which hit the Tamil Nadu coast on Friday, it is a surprise to know that cyclones are adored by people in the State.

Dr Nandita Krishna, environmentalist and director of Sir CP Ramaswamy Aiyer Environmental Centre, Chennai says that there was a time not long back when older women in the families would pray to weather gods to bless the State with cyclones. “I have seen my grandmother praying for cyclones. But for these periodic cyclones, Chennai would have starved of drinking water,” Dr Nandita told DNA.

Meteorologists substantiate the observations made by her. They strongly oppose the description of cyclones as terror from the skies. “Like rivers, lakes, mountains and oceans, cyclones are nature’s gift to earth. Cyclones play a crucial role in maintaining water level in the country’s hinterlands where there is shortage of rainfalls. The water level has gone down because the number of cyclones too have come down over the years,” said Dr BN Goswami, director, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune.

Dr Goswami said cyclonic storms in the Bay of Bengal bring in copious rainfalls to states like Chattisgargh, Jharkhand and Madhya Prades. “Hinterlands in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra benefit by cyclones originating in the Bay of Bengal,” he said.

Both Dr Goswami and Dr Nanditha are of the view that if a disaster management mechanism is in place on a round-the-clock basis with storm water drainage facilities, any cyclones could be tamed to suit the needs of the society.

According to the data collected by the Indian Meteorological Department, there has been a fall in annual frequency of cyclonic storms. "Our data shows that there has been a decrease in cyclonic storms from 1891 to 2006 and this is alarming. Cyclones are a must to ensure water availability in various regions of the country,” said Dr Goswami.

No depressions were noticed in Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea during 2010. “Interestingly, there was a shortage of rainfall in 2010 because of the absence of any depressions," he said.

An official of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai said that last decade saw only one cyclone crossing the Tamil Nadu coast. “In 2008 we had Cyclone Nisha and that was the only cyclone worth mentioning. In 2001 we had a mild cyclone which got entangled at the Cuddalore coast,” he said.