THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: IMD director S. Sudevan has said alerts and warnings put out by the Met Office here since Tuesday evening, starting with a trough of low pressure off southern Sri Lanka and the cyclone advance towards coast of Kanyakumari on Thursday noon, have been sufficient for the Revenue and State Disaster Management Authority to act. The Met office issues three bulletins on a normal day and a bulletin every three hours, depending on the severity of the wind speeds, especially if they graduate into deep depression.
A clear idea that the low pressure had worsened into a Cyclone Ockhi emerged only during the observation made on Thursday forenoon. This was immediately conveyed to all officers concerned in the State Government after confirming it with the main office in New Delhi. The Met office has to stick to data on hand and factor in criteria for forecast so that the office puts out precise alerts and warnings for the field agencies to swing into action. Its role is limited to issuing the advisory.
"We could not have straightaway issued a cyclone warning the moment we spotted the depression off the Lankan coast. Eddies take time to gather momentum and the trajectory of the resultant gale and squalls can be determined only through consistent tracking. It may or may not lead to a cyclone or a very severe cyclone. But the crucial factor is the lead time available to the Met office, on which depends disaster mitigation and management", said Mr Sudevan.
He said that in the case of Cyclone Ockhi, the lead time was too little taking into account Kerala's proximity. The lead time now available to Gujarat and Maharashtra is quite sufficient because the very severe cyclone's trajectory has been clearly charted, giving the impacting areas time to act. "At least from now on, all people concerned should heed Met office warnings and be proactive in launching precautionary measures", he said.
