Cyclone Montha: India’s tryst with the tempests

If there is a lesson that Cyclone Montha leaves behind, it is this: survival is no longer enough. The true measure of resilience lies in transformation - in learning from each tempest to build a future where India's coasts are not zones of perpetual vulnerability, but of strength, sustainability, and preparedness –Dipak Kurmi (dipakkurmiglpltd@gmail.com)

India's eastern coastline has long stood as a frontier between land and sea, a region both blessed and battered by nature's power. Every year, cyclones churn over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, testing the country's preparedness, resilience, and response. This week, Cyclone Montha once again exposed the fragility of that balance. As it swept across the eastern states of Odisha and Telangana, it unleashed torrential rains and fierce winds that left behind a trail of destruction - submerged railway lines, halted trains, stranded passengers, and inundated fields. What began as a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal grew swiftly into a violent storm, underscoring the unsettling truth that India's tryst with cyclones is becoming more dangerous and unpredictable with every passing year.

While the quick response of the administration, law enforcement, and disaster management authorities prevented what could have turned into a national calamity, Montha has reignited a critical question: how well prepared is India for the new era of extreme weather that climate change has ushered in?

A History Written in Storms

Cyclones are not new to India's meteorological history. The eastern coast, stretching from West Bengal to Tamil Nadu, has been a recurring target of powerful storms for centuries. But among the most devastating in recent memory was the 1999 Odisha Super Cyclone - a monstrous storm that claimed over 10,000 lives and left millions homeless. That tragedy became a turning point in India's approach to disaster management. It spurred the creation of new institutions, such as the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and the strengthening of early warning systems.

However, what has changed in recent decades is not just the recurrence of cyclones but their growing intensity and unpredictability. According to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the number of severe cyclonic storms over the Arabian Sea has nearly tripled in the past ten years. The Bay of Bengal, historically the more active basin, continues to generate storms that are stronger and more erratic than ever before. Scientists attribute this alarming trend largely to the warming of ocean waters, driven by rising global temperatures. Warmer seas provide more energy to forming storms, allowing them to rapidly intensify into severe cyclones.

The Human Factor in Natural Disasters

While the genesis of cyclones is natural, their devastating impact is often amplified by human activity. Rapid urbanization, poor drainage systems, and unplanned coastal development have turned otherwise manageable weather events into humanitarian crises. The swelling urban sprawls of cities like Chennai, Kolkata, and Visakhapatnam have encroached upon wetlands and natural drainage channels, leaving them vulnerable to even moderate rainfall.

Images from Mahabubabad-flooded railway tracks, stranded trains, and disconnected communities-mirrored similar scenes that unfolded in Chennai in 2015, Mumbai in 2017, and Hyderabad in 2020. Each disaster tells a familiar story: human negligence magnifying natural hazards. As greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere, global temperatures rise, and the ocean absorbs more heat, the climate system becomes increasingly unstable. What were once seasonal storms now arrive out of rhythm - more frequent, more violent, and more unpredictable.

Signs of Progress

Despite these challenges, India's capacity to predict, prepare for, and respond to cyclones has improved dramatically in the last two decades. Credit must go to the scientists, engineers, and disaster management experts who have transformed the nation's approach to early warning and evacuation.

Institutions like the IMD and the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) have made remarkable strides in forecasting accuracy. Their models can now track storm trajectories with greater precision, allowing governments to issue alerts well in advance. These systems have been complemented by robust coordination between central and state disaster management authorities, ensuring that information flows quickly and that evacuation protocols are activated promptly.

The results are visible in the numbers. India's cyclone-related mortality rate has dropped by more than 90 per cent since the 1990s. What once claimed thousands of lives now causes far fewer deaths, thanks to timely evacuations, public awareness campaigns, and better emergency infrastructure. Coastal shelters, cyclone-resistant housing, and community-level training have empowered local populations to respond more effectively when disaster strikes.

In Odisha, often referred to as India's "disaster management laboratory", the success of these initiatives is particularly striking. Decades of investment in preparedness, from mock drills to digital warning systems, have transformed the state's response capacity. When Cyclone Fani struck in 2019, for instance, more than a million people were evacuated in less than 48 hours - one of the largest peacetime evacuations in history.

The Unfinished Agenda: Building Climate Resilience

Yet even with these advancements, infrastructure resilience remains India's weakest link. The recurring images of collapsed bridges, submerged railway lines, and flooded urban roads reveal a systemic problem - one that cannot be solved by emergency response alone.

Climate-proofing infrastructure must now become the central pillar of India's long-term disaster mitigation strategy. This means designing roads, bridges, and railways that can withstand flooding; constructing elevated tracks in vulnerable zones; and installing efficient stormwater drainage systems in cities. Coastal housing projects must adhere to strict building codes that account for wind and storm surge risks. Equally important is the need to strengthen power and communication networks, which often collapse during severe weather, isolating communities at the very moment when information is most vital.

Beyond hard infrastructure, India must also focus on restoring its natural defences. Wetlands, mangroves, and coastal forests act as powerful buffers against storm surges, absorbing excess water and reducing wind velocity. Sadly, these ecosystems have been eroded by unchecked development, industrial pollution, and land reclamation. Restoring them is not just an environmental necessity but an economic and humanitarian imperative.

Lessons from the Past, Demands for the Future

Cyclone Montha's destructive sweep across the eastern states serves as yet another reminder that climate-induced disasters are the new normal. The IMD's reports highlight a troubling trend: storms are forming faster, intensifying more suddenly, and making landfall with less warning time. This phenomenon, known as "rapid intensification", poses enormous challenges for forecasting and preparedness.

To address this, India must continue investing in advanced climate modelling, satellite monitoring, and oceanic data collection. Collaborations with global research institutions can further enhance predictive capabilities, allowing authorities to anticipate not only where a cyclone will strike but also how severe its impact will be.

Policy frameworks must evolve alongside scientific progress. Coastal zoning laws should be enforced with greater rigour to prevent construction in high-risk areas. Rehabilitation and compensation mechanisms need to be streamlined to ensure that affected communities can rebuild their lives quickly and sustainably. At the same time, public awareness remains crucial. Community-led resilience programmes - where locals are trained to respond to early warnings, conduct evacuations, and provide first aid - can save countless lives when communication networks fail or when help is slow to arrive.

The Global Context

India's battle with cyclones mirrors the global climate crisis. Across the world, extreme weather events are becoming more destructive. From hurricanes in the Atlantic to typhoons in the Pacific, the planet's warming atmosphere and oceans are driving weather systems into dangerous new territory. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), coastal nations like India face a "compound threat"-rising sea levels, stronger storms, and unpredictable rainfall patterns converging to create cascading disasters.

The economic toll is staggering. Every year, cyclones cost India billions of rupees in damages to agriculture, infrastructure, and livelihoods. For a country with vast coastal populations dependent on fishing and farming, this is not just an environmental crisis but a developmental one. Integrating climate adaptation into economic planning is therefore essential. Investment in green infrastructure, renewable energy, and sustainable coastal management can simultaneously strengthen resilience and reduce emissions - addressing both cause and effect.

A Call for Preparedness and Vision

Cyclone Montha's arrival is both a test and a warning. It shows that while India has mastered the art of saving lives, it still struggles to protect livelihoods and infrastructure from repeated blows. Each storm leaves behind scars that go beyond statistics - families displaced, homes lost, and communities struggling to recover.

To meet this challenge, India must move from reactive to proactive climate governance. Building resilient cities, enforcing environmental safeguards, and fostering a culture of preparedness should not be seen as post-disaster responses but as ongoing national priorities. Investments in research, sustainable urban design, and ecosystem restoration will pay long-term dividends, reducing vulnerability and enhancing resilience.

The world is watching how India, home to one of the longest coastlines and largest populations at risk, adapts to this new climate reality. Its successes could serve as a blueprint for other nations facing similar threats. Conversely, its failures would echo far beyond its borders, reminding humanity that no coastline, however distant, is immune from the tides of a changing planet.

From the Super Cyclone of 1999 to Montha in 2025, India's relationship with the sea has been one of both awe and adversity. The progress made in forecasting and disaster response stands as a testament to scientific advancement and administrative will. Yet, as the storms grow stronger, the country must match its preparedness with long-term vision.

The next phase of India's cyclone strategy must focus on resilience - not just in evacuations and warnings, but in infrastructure, ecosystems, and urban planning. The challenge ahead is not simply to withstand the storm, but to coexist with a changing climate through foresight, adaptation, and respect for nature's power.

If there is a lesson that Cyclone Montha leaves behind, it is this: survival is no longer enough. The true measure of resilience lies in transformation - in learning from each tempest to build a future where India's coasts are not zones of perpetual vulnerability but of strength, sustainability, and preparedness.