When Nature Played Fast and Furious

It swept away hundreds of lives. In a few minutes, the Earth turned into a dystopic scene as Cyclone Aila landed on the shores of Sunderban and Bangladesh.

When destruction was all that remained; Source: Boston.com

We often love an apocalyptic movie. To see houses being destroyed, trees being uprooted, the seas taking in, it’s a larger-than-life picture. However, when it transforms into reality, the scene is not so pretty. There unfolds a tragedy as nature hits back with all its rage. It is not any grim vision, but a disaster. The 2009 cyclone Aila that shook Bengal was a catastrophe that people still have nightmares about.

Life along the shores of the sea was filled with the daily activities of the fishermen, the daily ritual of crab gatherers, and the fun and frolic of its children. The deltas of Sunderban were also as still as a sun-bathing crocodile under the summer skies and its scorching heat. The city that lay some hundreds of kilometres away was filled with the hustle-bustle of everyday life. However soon, everything was about to change. Mother Nature was going to take an unimaginable form and would go on a rampage claiming 339 lives across the neighbouring countries of India and Bangladesh. The Severe Cyclonic Storm Aila was taking a mammoth form with its maximum speed at 110 km/hour

It was early on 21st May 2009 that the meteorological department started issuing warnings about the inception of the tropical cyclone. Gathering all its might, it turned into a severe cyclonic storm three days after.

Despite all the government’s preparations, the measures still fell short as no one could imagine the havoc it was going to wreak on the lives of people. Millions of lives were at stake and it turned into a disastrous reality when 1 million people, which is only an official number, were left homeless.

Misery, it was sheer misery and grief that was left behind when Aila touched the land. Countless trees were uprooted, lives were lost, animals were seen lying lifeless, and houses were destroyed. The rampage was far from over as the cities saw massive outage in electricity. However, the brunt of it all was mostly borne by the people from the rural areas. Scenes of destruction and grief emerged as these people were again left defeated by life and nature.

Regarded as one of the worst natural disasters in the history of mankind, the effect was also felt in the districts of Howrah, Hooghly, South 24 Paraganas, East Midnapore, etc. The rains proved to be a further bane and claimed around 20 lives in the hill station of Darjeeling after landslides were reported. Orissa also experienced the cyclone and had to suffer the loss of around 1000 acres of farming soil. Bangladesh, a country known for its livelihood on the rivers was severely affected. 7000 people were injured and the numbers of fatalities only kept rising.

Once the cyclone began to pass away, the government came to its senses and started with the evacuation.

It was on 26th May 2009 that around 2500 troops started working day and night to rescue people. It fell short and the National Disaster Response Force had to be put to action the following day itself.

There was also the situation of flood which worsened the living conditions and resulted in diarrhoea among people. Although Aila had passed away, the after-effects were far from over.

12 years after Aila, the cries and anguish can still be heard, a remnant of the worst days of their lives. Nature took an unprecedented form and did not show any mercy. Nature, we say is the Earth’s greatest treasure. Nature, we believe is the cause of every life on earth. However, the question is what have we done to sustain this same nature? Only to be assaulted with heaps and heaps of waste and huge-scale deforestation. Although Aila was a natural disaster, such cyclones and other disasters will be much more common if nothing is being done to protect the Earth.