Was there a cyclone in the city in 1882?

Cyclone Nisarga, which is expected to make landfall on June 3, is an unprecedented weather event for Mumbai. The last time a cyclone hit the city, according to newspaper articles, was back on June 6, 1882, when the Great Bombay Cyclone reportedly led to the loss of 1 lakh people. However, experts have questioned the accuracy of those old reports.

A May 2019 study by America’s Columbia University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) concluded that the 1882 cyclone was a hoax.

“The India Meteorological Department (IMD) maintains archives of cyclone tracks as well asdailyweathersummariesfrom 1877-1970 for both the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. Maps are available in particular for all cyclones … during the period 1877-1883. The map for June shows no cyclone originating in the Arabian Sea that year,” read the peer-reviewed research paper.

Dr Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay from IITM, one of the contributing authors, said, “After Columbia University professor Adam Sobel raised the query about the authenticity of the Great Bombay Cyclone, which found its way into various research papers, books etc. internationally, we decided to investigate the source. After extensive research, we found that the entire thing was a hoax.”

However, former director general of IMD LS Rathore maintains the Great Bombay Cyclone did happen in 1882. “This is not a hoax. Owing to improper dissemination of information at the time, the true facts were never published or recorded. Even if they were, they have been lost in time.” Rathore said that the cyclone impacted the city’s port. “One would have to speak to a historian for more detailed description about the impact,” he said.

City historian Deepak Rao said that geographically and demographically, contemporary Mumbai is much larger than Bombay of 1882. “Extension of Greater Mumbai, including the suburbs of Mumbai started from Mahim, which was added only in 1945. In 1882, the seven islands were not seen together as Greater Mumbai and the population would have been devastated completely if a cyclone had taken place,” he said. Dr Mukhopadhyay added if over one lakh people had died in Bombay, the British administration would have documented this. “But we found nothing,” he said, adding that while Mumbai may never have witnessed a cyclone landfall, the closest it came to was when Cyclone Phyan in November 2009.