Lives saved, livelihoods lost Odisha’s real challenge begins after the storm
Sushanta Mahapatra
When Cyclone Montha struck the eastern coast on October 28, 2025, it repeated a grim pattern familiar to Odisha and its neighbours—flattening fields, flooding villages, and sending thousands into shelters. Making landfall between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam near Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh with winds of 100-110 kmph, the storm swept inland through southern Odisha’s Ganjam, Rayagada and Koraput districts and parts of Telangana before weakening into a depression.
Q1.. In what way, Cyclone Montha was similar to earlier such cyclones?
Q2 ..Where did it enter Andhra Pradesh? Which parts of Odisha bore the brunt of Cyclone Montha?
Early reports suggest extensive crop and horticultural losses across the region. The swift evacuation of thousands once again demonstrated Odisha’s preparedness, but the greater challenge now lies ahead—protecting livelihoods after the storm.
Odisha’s vulnerability to tropical cyclones is structural, not accidental. Its 575-kilometre coastline lies in one of the world’s six most cyclone-prone regions. Over the past century, nearly 260 cyclones have struck the State—from the catastrophic 1999 super-cyclone to Phailin in 2013, Titli in 2018, Fani in 2019, and Yaas in 2021.
Phailin alone caused losses of nearly ₹9,000 crore, with agriculture and livestock contributing more than a quarter of that amount. Counting fatalities alone thus misses the larger and more enduring costs of these disasters.
Q3.. Why is Odisha so susceptible to Cyclone hits? How many such hits have struck the state in the last century?
Q4. Roughly indicate how Cyclone Phalini ravaged Odisha.
The immediate economic shock is swift and devastating. Montha’s destruction will mean acute income losses for marginal farmers, cash-flow crises for traders, and food supply disruptions in nearby towns. After Cyclone Fani, a UNDP-led assessment estimated about ₹3,000 crore in damage to agriculture, livestock and fisheries, and nearly seven crore lost rural working days—roughly ₹2,700 crore in lost wages. The economic pain lingers long after the storm dissipates. Farmers still need to repay loans, buy seeds and fertilisers, and restore irrigation before the next season begins. Fishers must replace nets, boats and iceboxes well before any insurance claim materialises.
Q5. What devastations did Cyclone Montha and Cyclone Fani cause to Odisha? Give some figures pertaining to Cyclone Fani’s effect on Odisha’s economy and social life.
Beyond these visible effects, the secondary slowdown is often more destructive. In storm-hit districts, informal businesses remain closed for months, credit tightens, and banks grow risk-averse. Public spending is diverted from development projects to reconstruction, delaying progress in health, education and infrastructure. Economists estimate that major cyclones can shave several percentage points off Odisha’s gross State Domestic Product in affected years.
Q6. What long term hardships such cyclones cause to people?
Over the past two decades, Odisha has transformed disaster management. The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) has expanded cyclone shelters, strengthened early warnings, and institutionalised mass evacuations. The results are remarkable: the 1999 super-cyclone killed nearly 10,000 people; Phailin fewer than 50; and Yaas in 2021 only two. Yet this progress in saving lives has not been matched by livelihood recovery. Reconstruction still prioritises visible infrastructure such as roads, housing and power.
Q7. What steps the government has taken to lessen the pain of the people during and immediately after a cyclone’s hit? Give some figures to show the effectiveness of the government’s initiatives.
Ecological pressures deepen the crisis. Storm surges and saltwater intrusion degrade fertile soils and wetlands, undermining the natural capital of smallholders and fishers. Rising seas prolong saline flooding, reducing yields and pushing farmers toward less profitable crops or migration. These shifts carry social costs—disrupted schooling, family separation, and weakening rural communities.
Odisha’s next phase of resilience must prioritise livelihoods alongside lives. Crop and fishery insurance requires faster, simpler claims so producers can replant or rebuild quickly. Emergency credit and brief loan moratoria can avert distress sales. Expanding MGNREGS for rebuilding embankments and ponds can inject cash and restore assets.
Q8. Explain in detail how a devastating cyclone leaves behind great pain for the people it hits, especially those with minor incomes from the land, river and the sea.
Equally vital is nature-based protection. Mangroves, wetlands and tidal buffers can cut wave energy by up to 90%, offering both ecological and livelihood security. Odisha’s UN-backed mangrove restoration and climate-smart aquaculture, from mud-crab farming to rice intensification, show how adaptation can sustain incomes.
Financial systems must also adapt. A mix of contingency funds, regional insurance pools, flexible central transfers, and partnerships should channel resources directly to smallholders and coastal communities.
Q9. What remedial states are suggested by the author that could lessen the suffering of the people after a cyclone’s impact?
The author teaches economics at ICFAI School of Social Sciences, IFHE.
Views expressed are personal.
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We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Prof. Susanta Mahapatra and The Hindu, from which this article has been sourced.
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ANSWERS ..
Q1. In what way, Cyclone Montha was similar to earlier such cyclones?
Ans 1 .. Cyclone Montha was as ruthless as its predecessors in devastating parts of coastal Odisha and the neighbouring areas. It inundated villages, rampaged fields, and made people scramble to the safety of shelters.
Q2 ..Where did it enter Andhra Pradesh? Which parts of Odisha bore the brunt of Cyclone Montha?
Ans 2. .. It made its landfall in the coast between Machilipatanam and Kalingapatnam near Kakinada. Ganjam, Koraput, and Raygada suffered Motha’s wrath the most.
Q3.. Why is Odisha so susceptible to Cyclone hits? How many such hits have struck the state in the last century?
Ans 3. … Odisha has a long coastline of 575 kilometers. This region in the Bay of Bengal is one among the six most vulnerable locations on earth that faces deadly storms often. As many as 260 storms have impacted coastal Odisha in the last century.
Q4. Roughly indicate how Cyclone Phailin ravaged Odisha.
Ans 4 .. Cyclone Phailin that came in 2013 is the most destructive storm in living memory. It clobbered agriculture and livelihood to the extreme. The total estimated loss it caused stood at a whopping Rs.9000 crores. Farming sector losses amounted to more than a quarter of this amount. Death toll was alarmingly high. More than that, injuries and diseases that plagued the region caused immense hardship to the people for long.
Q5. What devastations did Cyclone Montha and Cyclone Fani cause to Odisha? Give some figures pertaining to Cyclone Fani’s effect on Odisha’s economy and social life.
Ans 5 .. Both Cyclone Montha and Cyclone Fani ripped the local economy apart. Small farmers lost their sources of income, traders were left with no cash, local towns suffered food scarcity, and the agony didn’t spare anyone in the area. A survey by UNDP assessed the total loss to the farming community to be a staggering Rs.3000 crores. Out of this amount, loss of wages alone amounted to Rs.2700 crores. The calamity’s grip showed no sign of loosening much after the disaster. Farmers had to re-start their activities, but with the unpaid debt burden, the task became doubly difficult. Fishermen lost their gears, and replacing them needed huge capital that they could not mobilize. The cloud of gloom lingered in the sky showing no sign to go away.
Q6. What long term hardships such cyclones cause to people?
Ans 6.. Cyclones grievously impact the areas they move on. In just a few hours, houses crumble, roads become unusable, health and education infrastructure are shattered. Worse are the sufferings of people who find their livelihood lost. Restoring the local economy needs urgent infusion of capital to empower the affected people to get back on their feet. Sadly, private money-lenders shy away from lending loans, and the government banks become doubly strict in vetting loan requests. Liquidity dries up making the process of restoration of livelihoods almost impossible. To add to the woes, government diverts its funds to quickly rebuild the devastated infrastructure. It leads to diversion of funds from school education, health centers and similar facilities that need quick restoration. It doesn’t happen.
Q7. What steps the government has taken to lessen the pain of the people during and immediately after a cyclone’s hit? Give some figures to show the effectiveness of the government’s initiatives.
Ans 7 … In the last two decades, the government has acted proactively to ameliorate the sufferings caused to people by the periodic visits of natural disasters. Now, there is a body call Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA). This body has built quite a few new shelters, and gives more accurate information about the time and place of a disaster’s hit. It sends officials to coax people to shelters leaving their homes. As a result, the death toll figures have plummeted exponentially. The death toll in the 1999 super-cyclone had touched 10,000. In comparison, Cyclone Phailin killed some 50 or less people. Fatalities in Cyclone Yaas in 2021 was only two.
Q8. Explain in detail how a devastating cyclone leaves behind great pain for the people it hits, especially those with minor incomes from the land, river and the sea.
Ans 8 .. Cyclones come and go, but the trail of pain they leave behind is startling. Salt water surges leave farming fields unsuitable for agriculture. Ponds lose their capacity to hold and grow fishes. Wetlands emerge in new areas disrupting agriculture. Having a rising sea near their villages harms marine fishing activities. Thus the impact casts a long shadow of suffering on the people.
Q9. What remedial states are suggested by the author that could lessen the suffering of the people after a cyclone’s impact?
Ans. 9. Cyclones can’t be wished away, but their deadly impact can be reduced to a certain extent. Having mangrove forests and large wetlands can dent their capacity to devastate the terrain on their way,
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