Bhubaneswar: UN praises India’s zero casualty policy, evacuation of 1 million people. The he Indian government’s “zero casualty” policy for cyclones and the pinpoint accuracy of the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) early warning system have helped reduce the possibility of deaths from cyclone Fani, according to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (ODRR).
“They seem to have done a very good job in terms of minimising the possibility for loss of life,” Denis McClean, a spokesperson for the ODRR said at a UN news briefing in Geneva on Friday.
“The almost pinpoint accuracy of the warnings, the early warnings from the IMD, allows them to conduct a very well targeted evacuation plan which resulted in 1.1 million people mainly moving to about 900 cyclone shelters.”
As of Saturday morning, less than 10 deaths were reported from the 175-kmph cyclone that made landfall in Odisha on Friday.India’s policy of minimising fatalities from cyclones has been proven by past performances as in cyclone Phailin in 2013, when “famously the casualty rate was kept to as low as 45 despite the intensity of the storm”, McClean said.
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