Cyclone Man of India

Cyclone Man of India-Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra

On October 29, 1971, a deadly cyclone struck India’s east coast and villages of Odisha mainly Bhadrak. It caused widespread devastation in coastal villages in Odisha. Life came to a standstill in many villages and large-scale destruction of trees got uprooted, houses damaged were ravaged and thousands of acres of paddy fields were damaged due to saline water of the sea. This left a lasting impression on the mind of a six-year-old boy in the village. Not only his family but also and the rest of the village had to bear the post-cyclone trauma for about a year had no food, rice, and crops left with them that had been lost during the 1971 cyclone. They all had to depend upon wheat that had been supplied as relief material. After 11year in 1982, another deadly cyclone hit the state again and that little boy got astonished by nature’s fury, so he resolved that one day he would ‘tame’ cyclones and save lives. And when he grew up, he did exactly the same thing.

This Little boy On 12 August 1956, in a small village of Rajgurupur near Ghanteshwar of Chandabali Block, Bhadrak District, Odisha where that little boy was born and he spent his childhood and got an education and become a renowned scientist and all the people know him as ‘Cyclone Man of India' for being accurately predication cyclonic storms. This Little Boy is Named Dr.Mrutyunjay Mohapatra. On the year 2021 Day May 26, another tropical cyclone was going to struck Northern Districts of Odisha (Balasore Bhadrak, Kendrapara and Mayurbhanj) and it was predicted that the tropical Cyclone named Yaas has made landfall near the village where Dr.Mohapatra was born and made up his mind to do something to save the people from this devastating natural calamity. At the age of 54, Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra took the chargers as Director-General of Meteorology of India weather department replacing K.J. Ramesh on 1st August 2019.

Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra after getting his Master’s Degree in Physics from Utkal University, Dr. Mohapatra joined Interim Test Range (ITR)Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) laboratory in Chandipur in Balasore district of Odisha as Junior Scientific Assistant in Fiber Optic Communication and Data Management. This time the first Agni missile was tested in 1988.where he got the chance to meet and also shook his hand with the late and former President of India and a senior scientist of DRDO Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. This job did not give him the satisfaction that he was seeking, so he joined as a lecturer in Physics at Dinakrushna College in Jaleswar, Balasore District of Odisha. In 1992 there was an opening at the IMD, he knew it was his calling and joined the IMD. At age of he joined as a Meteorologist Grade-II Trainee at the IMD, Pune. He was later posted in the same rank to the Meteorological Centre, IMD, and Bhubaneswar and promoted to Meteorologist Grade-I in Weather Forecasting and Cyclone Warning, Climatology, Aviation Meteorology.

Cyclone Man of India - Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra

He was also working in Odisha when the 29 October 1999 Super Cyclone that made landfall near Paradip with the estimated maximum wind speed reached 260-270kmph struck the coast killing more than 15,000 people. At that time, only a 24-hour prediction warning was available and that surely was not sufficient to save lives and this was the biggest human tragedy at that time. He and others could do nothing as the cyclone ravaged. This made IMD embarked upon modernization of the weather prediction to predict natural disasters such as cyclones and tsunami in advance and provide accurate reliable advance information to civil authorities to undertake precautionary actions. Dr. Mohapatra was shifted to Delhi in 2002 and asked to oversee the modernization. In 2008, Dr. Mohapatra and his team made effective early warnings on Tropical Cyclones and his famous prediction are Mohapatra shot to fame for his accurate prediction on the movement of the Cyclone Phailin in 2013, Cyclone Hudhud in 2014, Cyclone Titli and Lubna(in Yemen) in 2018, Cyclone Fani in 2019 and Cyclone Amphan in 2020. Due to him and his team was able to predict the point of landfall, wind velocity, and wave height with accurate inputs from IMD, the State and Central government and civil authorities evacuated one million people before the cyclone struck the coast. Due to early and timely action, thousands of lives and likelihood can be saved earlier. He has pasted large size pictures of the cyclone devastation in various parts of the country in cyclone division and says “we want to remember, our timely and conscientious action will make a difference between life and death; devastation and preservation of assets. This made him popular as ‘Cyclone Man of India’. 

Dr. Mohapatra got his Distinctions from FM University, Balasore, and Odisha-2020 as Honorary Doctor of Science. In 2019 he got a Fellow, Indian Meteorological Society, and Indian Climate Congress. His areas of specialization are Weather Forecasting Services, Project/Programme Management, Research & Development, General Administration & Management. His Research and Scientific Publications are mainly based on weather forecasting & cyclone warning, cyclonic disturbances, monsoonal low-pressure systems, heavy rainfall, thunderstorm, forecast verification. 

Dr.Mrutyunjay Mohapatra Research scientific publication over 80 Research Publications to the credit and here is some of his Profession Career is:

1. Director, Regional Meteorological Center, IMD, Guwahati (2004 - 2005) Weather forecasting, Climatology, Aviation Meteorology. 
2.  Director, National Weather Forecasting Centre (NWFC) formerly Northern Hemispheric Analysis Centre (NHAC), IMD, New Delhi (2005 - 2010) Weather forecasting and Cyclone Warning.
3. Scientist-E, NWFC (Formerly NHAC), IMD, New Delhi (2010 - 2015) Weather forecasting and Cyclone Warning, Disaster Management. 
4. Scientist-F, NWFC (Formerly NHAC), IMD, New Delhi (2015 - 2016) Weather forecasting, Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) and Cyclone Warning, Disaster Management. 
5. Scientist-G, IMD New Delhi (2016 - 2019) Weather forecasting, Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) and Severe Weather warning, Disaster Management. 

Dr. Mohapatra has received many national and international awards. This is why he is called the 'Cyclone Man of India'. Here are some of his Awards & Distinctions are:

1. Honorary Doctor of Science from FM University, Balasore, Odisha-2020.
2. Fellow, Indian Meteorological Society, 2019.
3.  Fellow, Indian Climate Congress, 2019.
4. Bharat Gaurav Award-2019 by Jai Bharat Foundation, Cuttack Odisha.
5. Felicitation by Sh. Naveen Pattanaik, Chief Minister, Odisha for outstanding contribution in disaster management.
6. Satyasai Samman-2019 by Satyasai Charitable and Education Trust, Odisha for distinguished contribution in cyclone forecasting and meteorological applications.
7. Bhumiputra Samman-2020 by the Biplbi Beera Chakradhar Smruti Sansad, Ghanteswar, Odisha for Cyclone Warning Services.
8. Achiever’s Award-2013 for excellence in cyclone warning services to Cyclone and Warning Division from India Meteorological Department.
9. Certificate of Merit for Young Scientist Award – 2008 by Ministry of Earth Sciences, for outstanding contribution in the field of atmospheric science and technology.
10. 25th Biennial Mausam Award (2008-2009) for the paper, published in MAUSAM.
11. Commendation certificate during 1989 from Defence Research and Development Organisation, for contribution to Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.
12. Commendation Certificates-2019 and 2020 from various organizations for prediction of the cyclone.

 I.   Ganatantrik Nagarik Parishad, Bhadrak Odisha

                        II.   Zila Biju Smriti Committee, Bhadrak Odisha.

                       III.   Odisha Forum, New Delhi.

                       IV.   Retired Employees Association, Bhadrak, Odisha.

13. Felicitation by Utkal University in recognition of cyclone warning services.

14. Felicitation by Berhampur University, Odisha for excellence in cyclone warning services.

15.  Appreciations received for improvement in cyclone warning services.

16. Appreciations received globally and nationally from government and non-government agencies including WMO, NDRF, IAF, State Govts for successful predicting of cyclones during 2013-2020.

Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra was also the chairman of various committees, including the task force for the finalization of meteorological payloads of the INSAT-4 satellites to be launched in 2025 and the committee for revision of guidelines of the National Disaster Management Authority for cyclone management. In 2016 Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra headed the service and also helms the affairs of the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC).  Dr. Mohapatra is also a permanent representative for India at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and was an elected member of the executive council of the organization since June 2013. 

This is a nutshell Biography of Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra who is affectionately known as 'Cyclone Man of India' for having accurate prediction for the path of ferocious cyclonic storm.