By Sanjeev Kumar Patro
Bhubaneswar: William Shakespeare once reflected a popular thought ‘What is there in a name? Rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” But the severe Cyclone Dana that had on October 25 made landfall 16km away from Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha defied the popular thought of the great poet William Shakespeare.
Cyclone Dana has been named by Qatar. In Persian, Dana literally means ‘wise’. In Arab, Dana is also meant as ‘most perfectly sized pearl’. The severe Cyclone Dana that hit Odisha coasts could be explained with any other name, other than Dana – because it is perfectly sized to take lesser economic toll on Odisha and its ‘wise’ aspect has also popped out when the polluted air from Lahore (Pakistan) is rushing fast to Odisha, and was deflected back to Pakistan via Rajasthan.
It is not to say that Cyclone Dana didn’t unfurl any destructive impact on the State of Odisha. The severe Cyclone Dana has, indeed, inflicted grave economic losses and hardships on the State of Odisha, which is listed below.
- 69.99k hectares paddy damaged
- 1.12 lakh hectare area submerged
- 8 lakh people moved to cyclone shelter
- 22.42 lakh houses faced power supply disruption
- Rs 100cr loss to power infrastructure in Odisha
Cyclone Dana did incur economic losses on Odisha and people of districts like Kendrapada, Bhadrak, Jagatsighpur and Balasore, but at the same time, the cyclonic system’s ‘wise’-ness is to the fore.
CYCLONE DANA “WISE”
Stubble burning and brick kiln smokes from the Pakistan’s Punjab is playing havoc in Delhi. The Air Quality Index (AQI) for Anand Vihar at 12 PM today (Oct 26) measured at 364 (Very Poor). A sample check of around 40 pollution check centres in the national capital, AQI data from around 30 centres covering Anand Vihar ,ITO, DU Campus, Mundka, Okhla, Rohini, Wazirpur et al display a poor to very poor AQI. Only half a dozen centres like Alipur, Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, RK Puram etc show moderate AQI.
Though the PM2.5 pollutants were already a headache for the national capital region, the carbon monoxide (CO) level in Delhi air deteriorated courtesy the stubble burning in neighbouring Pakistan, and as the northwest wind has set on over north India, the CO laced air turned toxic for Delhiites and other northern states.
A look at the wind pattern over India, as per IMD and IITM, shows the northwest wind is spreading the CO emanating from stubble burning, in air to as far as West Bengal and Odisha. But the changed wind pattern over Odisha courtesy severe Cyclone Dana has deflected the CO laced toxic northwest air towards Pakistan via Rajasthan.
However, the scenario will change in next 48 hours, when Cyclone Dana, which has weakened to low pressure, altered wind pattern will cease to exist, and Odisha will come under the sway of northwest wind (from October 28/29 onwards). The AQI in Odisha may turn to poor.
