In October 1999, two cyclones devastated coastal Orissa, leaving nearly 30,000 dead in 14 districts. Immediately after, the Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority (osdma) was formed. So why is it that, 5 years later, Orissa simply isn't prepared for disaster?

For one: multiple agencies, and complete non-coordination. osdma's administrative authority is the revenue department, and the chief secretary takes policy decisions. osdma works in conjunction with central agencies, the state government and the 30 district administrations that run the state. It also works with non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, un agencies and specialised disaster management organisations. As a result, explains Biswanath Das of Jewaharlal Nehru University, who has recently surveyed coastal Orissa, "Nobody knows how the information will come down to the village level if a cyclone occurs now.'

Secondly, the reach of mitigation programmes is extremely poor. osdma is implementing a Community-based Disaster Preparedness Programmes (cbdp)