• News
  • India News
  • Rains claim 500 lives between April-July; 6.8k lives lost since April 2016
This story is from August 9, 2019

Rains claim 500 lives between April-July; 6.8k lives lost since April 2016

Rains have claimed nearly 500 lives between April 1 and July 17, 2019. ​​Maharashtra saw the most number of deaths (137), followed by Bihar (78), Odisha (64) and Karnataka (57), which together account for 68% of the 496 lives lost across the country. Rain-related natural calamities claimed as many as 6,585 lives over three years between April 2016 and July 2019.
Rains claim 500 lives between April-July; 6.8k lives lost since April 2016
A view of flooded area due to overflow of Panchganga river during monsoon season in Maharashtra's Kolhapur. (Photo courtesy: PTI)
BENGALURU: As disaster management teams and defence personnel continue to evacuate people from rain-affected villages across multiple districts in India, data from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) shows that rains claimed nearly 500 lives between April 1 and July 17, 2019, while nearly 6 lakh houses and crops on more than 4 lakh hectares were damaged.
Maharashtra saw the most number of deaths (137) in the said period, followed by Bihar (78), Odisha (64) and Karnataka (57), which together account for 68% of the 496 lives lost across the country in the first three-and-a-half months of 2019-2020.

Rain-related calamities also saw 7,102 livestock deaths in these months, of which 6,281 or 88% was reported in Odisha, while Assam accounted for 364 deaths followed by 220 in Gujarat and 102 in Karnataka. Maharashtra reported 55 livestock deaths.
And, nearly 6 lakh houses and crops on 4 lakh hectares were also reported as damaged. While all the crop loss was reported in Assam (2.52 lakh hectares) and Odisha, the latter also lost the maximum number of houses—5.5 lakh of the 6 lakh reported across India.
Much of these losses are attributed to Cyclone Fani, which according to Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s August 6 statement is estimated to have cost Rs 24,176 crore in damages in his state alone. He says that recovery would require Rs 29,315 crore.
6.8k lives & 39-L houses lost in 3 years
Besides, data shows that rain-related natural calamities claimed as many as 6,585 lives over three years between April 2016 and July 2019, with Bihar reporting 15% of all deaths, followed by Kerala (11%) and West Bengal (10%). Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh too lost many lives.

Aside from the rain itself, the Centre has conceded in Parliament that the causes for floods are also “poor or inadequate drainage capacity, unplanned reservoir regulation and failure of flood control structures.”
Reports from across the country in the past week have also shown how states lack in preparedness, while states like Odisha and Andhra Pradesh showed great preparedness during Fani, reacting positively to advance alerts from IMD and other agencies.
Jal Shakti Estimates
Separate data on the extent of flood-prone areas as estimated by the ministry of Jal Shakti shows that about 50 lakh hectares spread across 29 states and two union territories—Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli don’t have areas prone to flood—are flood-prone.
Of these, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have the maximum area. The Centre, as part of the flood management programme in the eleventh Plan has provided central assistance of Rs 5,101 crore to various States.
These funds are to be used for work related to flood control, river management, drainage development, flood proofing and anti-sea erosion works in critical areas.
Also, the Central Water Commission, which claims that at least 48% of flood-prone area has been provided with reasonable protection against flood of low to moderate magnitude, says: “It is not possible to provide protection against all magnitude of flood. Flood Forecasting and warning has been recognized as the most important, reliable and cost effective non-structural measures for flood mitigation.”
author
About the Author
Chethan Kumar

As a young democracy grows out of adolescence, its rolling out reels and reels of tales. If the first post office or a telephone connection paints one colour, the Stamp of a stock market scam or the ‘Jewel Thieves’ scandal paint yet another colour. If failure of a sounding rocket was a stepping stone, sending 104 satellites in one go was a podium. If farmer suicides are a bad climax, growing number of Unicorns are a grand entry. Chethan Kumar, Senior Assistant Editor, The Times of India, who alternates between the mundane goings-on of the hoi polloi and the wonder-filled worlds of scientists and scamsters, politicians and Jawans, feels: There’s always a story, one just has to find it.

End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA