'Four Odisha dists 'very highly prone' to cyclones'

Four districts of Odisha among 12 districts in the country are 'very highly prone' to cyclones. This has been revealed by a study conducted by head of the Cyclone Warning Division of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Mrityunjay Mohapatra.Mohapatra, who has authored the research paper, said 13 coastal States and Union Territories in the country are affected by tropical cyclones (TCs). Four States, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, and Union Territory Puducherry on the east coast and Gujarat on the west coast are more vulnerable to the TCs, he added.

The four 'very highly prone' districts in Odisha are Baleswar, Bhadrak, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur.The study, which analysed the cyclone patterns in the country from 1891 to 2010, said the 'very high prone' districts have been hit by the maximum number of cyclones.In the research paper, he said Medinipur district in West Bengal witnessed 22 cyclones, of which 10 were severe in nature. Similarly, Baleswar recorded 28 cyclones, of which five were severe.

The study also pointed out that storm surge was one of the biggest killers during cyclones. "The districts of Baleswar, Medinipur, North 24 Parganas recorded the highest storm surge which was around 30 metres," said Mohapatra.He also discussed in the study about the regions 'highly prone', 'moderately prone' and 'less prone' to cyclones in the country.