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Cyclone Gaja: Being prepared against extreme events
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Coastal districts must continue to strengthen resilience against extreme weather events
Tamil Nadu was more prepared(तैयार) than before to deal with Cyclone Gaja(चक्रवात गाजा) when it made landfall between Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam on November 16, but it still took a toll of at least 45 lives. The severe(तीव्र/गंभीर) cyclonic storm damaged(क्षतिग्रस्त) infrastructure, property and agriculture(कृषि). Even so, the effort(प्रयास) to professionalise(व्यवसायीकरण) disaster(आपदा/विपत्ति) management through a dedicated(समर्पित) national and State organisation(संगठन) initiated(शुरू की)more than 15 years ago appears(रूप लेना/प्रकट होता है) to be paying off, with bureaucracies(प्राधिकारीप्रशासन) acquiring(प्राप्त)higher efficiency(कार्यक्षमता/निपुणता) in providing(उपलब्ध कराने के) early warning and in mitigating(कम करना/शांत करना) the impact of cyclones. The National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project started by the Ministry of Home Affairs has been working to reduce the impact of such catastrophic(प्रलयंकर/आपत्तिजनक) events on Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, classified as States with higher vulnerability; most western coastal States are in the next category. However, there is a lot to be done to upgrade infrastructure and housing in coastal(तटीय ) districts to meet higher standards of resilience(लचीलापन) in an era of extreme weather events. The lead taken by the State Disaster Management Authority inissuing(जारी/बाहर आना) a stream of alerts ahead of Gaja helped coastal residents(निवासी) move to camps and adopt safety measures(उपायों). The active measures taken by the State after the cyclone, notably to clear roads, remove fallen trees and repair power infrastructure and communications, helped restore some stability(स्थिरता/मज़बूती). In its destructive(हानिकारक/विनाशकारी) exit path, the cyclone has affected some southern districts, felling tens of thousands of trees and also 30,000 electricity poles along the coast. It also hit residents in some central Kerala districts.
Tamil Nadu’s political parties have acted in a mature(तैयार होना/परिपक्व होना) manner and kept partisan criticism(आलोचना/समीक्षा) from getting in the way of relief and rehabilitation(पुनर्वास) after Gaja. This is in contrast(विपरीत/विरोध) to some earlier instances(घटना/उदाहरण), such as the Chennai flood of 2015, when the distribution(वितरण) of relief became politicised. Today, if any pressure on the government machinery is necessary, it is to secure without delay the financial relief of ₹10 lakh that has been promised for families of the dead, compensation(मुआवजा) for lost(लुप्त/खोया हुआ) crop(फ़सल/पैदावार), trees and livestock(मवेशी/पशु), provision(प्रावधान/भोजन) of emergency health intervention( हस्तक्षेप) and rehabilitation assistance to rebuild(पुनर्निर्माण करना) lives. The larger question, of course, is whether the coastal States have equipped(सुसज्जित)themselves for an even bigger event, such as the super cyclone that hit Odisha in 1999 that killed about 10,000 people. Even with far fewer casualties, Cyclone Phailin in 2013 required reconstruction estimated at $1.5 billion. India’s coastline experiences a lower frequency of tropical cyclones compared(तुलना/मुक़ाबला करना) to many other regions, but the loss of life and destruction(विनाश/तबाही) is much higher. Coastal States must, therefore, focus on reducing(कमी) the hazard(जोखिम/खतरा) through policies that expand resilient housing, build better storm(तूफान ) shelters(आश्रयों/पनाह) and create financial mechanisms for insurance and compensation.
Important Vocabulary
1.Severe(तीव्र/गंभीर)
Synonyms: harsh, relentless, serious, strict, astringent
Antonyms: kind, amenable, calm, compromising, easy
2.Efficiency(कार्यक्षमता/निपुणता)
Synonyms: ability, adaptability, capability, competence, energy
Antonyms: idleness, ignorance, impotence, inability, inadequacy
3.Dedicated(समर्पित
Synonyms: committed, devoted, enthusiastic, faithful, zealous
Antonyms: apathetic, disloyal, inconstant, indifferent, lethargic
4.Destructive(हानिकारक/विनाशकारी)
Synonyms: calamitous, cataclysmic, catastrophic, damaging, deadly
Antonyms: advantageous, assisting, beneficial, blessed, favorable
5.Issuing(जारी/बाहर आना)
Synonyms: announce, circulate, declare, deliver, promulgate
Antonyms: be quiet, conceal, hide, hold, keep
6.Stability(स्थिरता/मज़बूती).
Synonyms: balance, cohesion, establishment, security, strength
Antonyms: doubt, instability, spinelessness, uncertainty, weakness
7.Resilience(लचीलापन)
Synonyms: , flexibility, pliancy, recoil, snap
8.Contrast(विपरीत/विरोध)
Synonyms: comparison, contradiction, disagreement, disparity, distinction
Antonyms: agreement, harmony, likeness, peace, sameness
9.Compared(तुलना/मुक़ाबला करना
Synonyms: correlated, related, as to, in comparison, set side by side
10.Shelters(आश्रयों/पनाह)
Synonyms: apartment, asylum, condo, dwelling, haven
Antonyms: brightness, light
11.Hazard(जोखिम/खतरा)
Synonyms: peril, risk, threat, dynamite, endangerment
Antonyms: safety, assurance, certainty, determination, fact
12.Equipped(सुसज्जित
Synonyms: armed, clothed, dressed, furnished, rigged
Antonyms: bare, stripped, unfurnished
