West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, within which the larger share of the Sundarbans is located, is impacted by cyclones the most frequently among Indian districts, found a recent study.
The return period of cyclonic storms in the district was 1.67 years on a scale of 1.5 to 60 years, according to the analysis by India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune. Shorter return periods indicate more frequent cyclones.
For severe storms, the return period was 2.61 years, the report Climate hazards and vulnerability atlas of India showed.
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“The finding is in sync with the developments during the last three years when Sunderbans was impacted by one major cyclone after another — from Bulbul in 2019, Amphan in 2020, Yaas and Jawad in 2021. In 2009, Cyclone Aila had devastated the region,” said Javed Ahmed Khan, state disaster management minister of West Bengal.
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