I grew up in a remote coastal village in the cyclone prone state of Odisha. My earliest memories are fraught with terror as I, a precocious six year old, helplessly watched the cyclone on October 29, 1971 ravaging my homeland. Statistics record a death toll of more than 10,000 people, but the destruction I witnessed cannot be described in words. 
Little did I know then that I was destined to become a meteorologist in IMD, Bhubaneswar. Despite my resolve to provide enough time to warn my countrymen about the imminent landfall of a tropical cyclone, limited tools and technology that provided only 24 hour forecast blunted all efforts. The Odisha super cyclone on October 29, 1999 again caused untold havoc. I failed my people and it was a grim reminder of my lost childhood. Finally, as Head of Cyclone Warning Division, coordinating the cyclone warning activity, I was determined to tame the expected giant killer, Phailin of October 12, 2013. And this time, we provided accurate warning five days in advance reducing the death toll to 22. It was triumph at last—of technology and human expertise over the maleficence of nature. I have always strived to be better­­. Not in comparison to my contemporaries or predecessors—but in believing in bettering myself.

Expert Panelist’s note

Ajit Tyagi, Koteswaram Professor, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Air Vice Marshal (Retd) and Former Director General, India Meteorological Department, New Delhi.

Naval Fleets and Air Forces during Second World War feared cyclones more than enemy ships and air crafts. Adm. William Halsey, Commander of Third Fleet of United States Navy in the Pacific was helpless against the fury of typhoon ‘Cobra’ that sank three Destroyers, damaged many ships and grounded 145 airplanes in less than 24 hours on December 17, 1944.

From the days when a cyclone could kill thousands in India to recent years where a sharp decline in deaths of less than a hundred is registered, has been made possible by continuous improvement in weather forecasting and developing  close linkages with disaster management agencies both at the central and the state level. It has been great privilege to be part of the long journey starting in early 1970s as a weather forecaster in the Indian Air Force, being part of India Meteorological Department from 2008 to 2012 and of Ministry of Earth Sciences now, witnessing use of weather satellites, radars, buoys and automated weather stations for real time surveillance and state of the art Numerical Weather Prediction Models resulting in improvements in cyclone warnings. Saving thousands of lives by providing timely early warnings not only within India but also to littoral countries of northern Indian Ocean is yet another excellent example of science serving the society and of international cooperation. 

Jai Hind.