Cyclone Tauktae likely to compound economic woes caused by Covid-19
The damage can be quantified only after the cyclone passes over and different state governments come out with the assessment reports
The Covid-19 pandemic has already wreaked havoc in the Indian economy with the second run striking many sectors even before it could recover from the first. To compound the situation, cyclone Tauktae is lashing states in the south and west.
The devastation of the cyclone would add to the job loss, wage cuts and ruined businesses, not speak of the human misery, that lakhs have suffered in states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
While in May 2020, cyclone Amphan wreaked havoc in the east coast, Tauktae can have the potential of causing similar damage in the west coast in the second run of the infection.
Up to 175 kmph
Windspeeds will reach 150-160 km per hour gusting up to 175 km per hour, the meteorological department has warned.
The impact of the cyclone is going to be felt in a few southern and western states such as Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Even Tamil Nadu is not spared.
Post-assessment
The damage can be quantified only after the cyclone passes over and different state governments come out with the assessment reports.
The National Disaster Response Force has formed 100 teams that are being deployed in various areas of the statre likely to be hit hard by the cyclone.
Airlines
The airline Vistara has issued an alert and said that its flights to Chennai, Thiruvanathapuram, Kochi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Goa, and Ahmedabad are likely to be impacted till May 17 due to extremely adverse weather conditions over the Arabian sea.
Like any other cyclone, Tauktae is going to trigger heavy rains in the coastal districts of all the states along the southern coast, cause flooding, damage crops and livestock and if brackish water enters farmlands, it might damage cultivation in those fields for a few years.
Covid stress
As the storm approached the country’s commercial capital Mumbai braced for very heavy rains. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has moved at least 600 patients from Covid centres to government hospitals. While 243 patients were shifted from BKC facility, 176 were removed from Mulund and 184 from Dahisar centre.
Tauktae is expected to hit coastal Gujarat on Monday evening.
Fishing
The cyclone is also disrupting fishing activities, the Indian Coast Guard tweeted, “Through effective and constant liaison with fisheries department and timely weather alerts to fishermen by the ICG ships and aircraft, all 4,526 fishing boats of Maharashtra and 2,258 boats of Gujarat which were out at sea, have safely returned to harbour.”
The Coast Guard wrote in another earlier tweet that all fishing boats, except one from Gujarat and 18 from Maharashtra, have returned or taken shelter at nearby ports.
Attention diverted
The cyclone will also divert administrative attention and resources from battling COVID to mitigating woes caused by the cyclone. All the states in the path of the cyclone like Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat have been impacted by the infection.
On May 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the preparedness of the states to tackle the impact of the cyclone.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah enquired about the damage caused by the cyclone in Goa and assured the administration of all help.
Amphan in 2020
The situation has parallels with cyclone Amphan that lashed West Bengal and Odisha on May 20, 2020 as the country was passing through one of the severest lockdowns in the world.
The cyclone that made landfall in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal uprooted trees, snapped power line and twisted electric poles, flattened thousands of thatched/mud houses, ruined crops in lakhs of acre and also killed livestock in an economic devastation that added to the woes of the pandemic.
Rs 1 lakh crore
According to the World Meteorological Organisation’s report the bill of damage by the cyclone would amounted to $14 billion, or close to Rs 1 lakh crore. Incidentally, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also sought relief similar in quantum from the Centre.
Ironically, experts said that in 2020 the lockdown drove down the pollution levels in the atmosphere that helped the clouds to retain more moisture till Amphan hit the land, resulting in more rainfall and damage than it would have done in normal times.
About 24 lakh people were displaced in Odisha and West Bengal.
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