The devastating cyclone that hit Gujarat in June 1998, leading to the loss of many lives and extensive damage to infrastructure, is still fresh in the collective memory of the people.
The Kandla port was nearly destroyed and 10,000 people had perished. In 2023, exactly 25 years after the calamity, a very severe Cyclone Biparjoy made a landfall in Kutch. But this time around, the loss of lives and damage to infrastructure was minimal.
Accurate forecast of the rainfall and the path of the cyclone and the preparedness of the CM Bhupendra Patel government helped achieve this feat.
Manorama Mohanty, head of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Gujarat, said that for 10 days, the central team of IMD tracked the cyclonic storm.
The IMD officials said that in the past couple of decades, tracking of cyclones and the weather forecasts have become more accurate with the use of sophisticated technology like multiple satellites, land-based observation stations and buoys in the sea.
