Published Paper Details:

It has been almost three decades since the Super Cyclone ravaged Odisha. Around eighteen million people were affected, more than ten thousand precious lives were lost, and the economy was devastated. The event, however, marked a turning point in Odisha's development trajectory. Not only did the cyclone-prone state resolve to protect its people from future disasters setting the goal of zero-human casualties, it also emerged as a global pioneer in disaster management. Today, Odisha is more resilient with support from civil society organisations. When Cyclone Phailin struck the coast in 2013, Odisha carried out one of the most successful disaster management efforts in the world, evacuating close to one million people ahead of the strongest cyclone to hit the country since the Super Cyclone. In 2019, when another powerful cyclone Fani struck, the Odisha government showed a high degree of preparedness and effectively evacuated about 1.2 million people based on these predictions. In 1999, in the wake of the Super Cyclone, Odisha became the first state in India to establish a disaster management authority well before the establishment of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in 2005. But empowering communities is just one part of the solution. Building disaster-resilient infrastructure is equally important. Since this requires collaboration between several government departments and civil society organisations OSDMA has taken the lead in putting in place critical infrastructure that protects the lives and livelihoods of the people. The World Bank, along with several other multilateral agencies, has been privileged to partner with the Govt of Odisha, helping to strengthen it in its formative years. This article attempts a critical analysis of the steps augmented by international and national relief and rehabilitation organisations.