Nearly 10,216 people lost their lives in hydro-meteorological disasters which hit India over the past five years, the government told Parliament on Monday in the aftermath of catastrophic landslides in Kerala and multiple cloudbursts in Himachal Pradesh.
A hydro-meteorological disaster is classified as any extreme weather event triggered by changes in atmospheric, hydrological, oceanographic conditions, including flash floods, avalanches, glacial-lake outbursts, cyclones as well as thunderstorms/ lightning events, which have intensified in frequency and severity due to climate change.
While the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said it does not maintain any centralised data on loss of life and property due to ‘extreme weather’ events, the detail of damages/deaths from such disasters was compiled by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) based on from reports submitted by states/UTs so far.
The data reveals that on an average, 2,000 people have died in hydro-meteorological disasters every year since 2019-20, and the toll touched 2,616 in 2023-24. Most flood-prone states Bihar and Himachal Pradesh suffered the highest death toll of 518 and 449, respectively last year, followed by Gujarat (236) and Madhya Pradesh (201).
CLIMATE DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT
The MPs also demanded government response on the adverse impacts of climate change in India in wake of the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. Responding to concerns over incidents such as Joshimath land subsidence, the Environment Ministry admitted that post-disaster landslide studies carried out by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) have observed that “human interference disturbs the natural environment and increases the scope of increase in landslide occurrences”.
“The unregulated tourism beyond the carrying capacity of hill stations disturbs their ecological balance and may increase the vulnerability of such hill stations. Rampant infrastructural and tourism-related development, involving removal of forests and vegetation over a large area, alteration of natural water flow patterns, overloading on slopes, unscientific excavation can make the hill regions more prone to erosion/landslides, especially during heavy rainfall and earthquakes,” said the Minister of State (MoS- Environment) Kirti Vardhan Singh.
The recent catastrophic events also damaged over 31 lakh houses across states, destroyed nearly 245 lakh hectares of cropped area and affected 3 lakh cattle, as per the information compiled by the National Emergency Response Centre (NERC) of NDMA.
CLIMATE ADAPTATION: FIGHT FOR FUNDS
Responding to the questions on building adaptation and resilience to climate change, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) said it has so far sanctioned 30 projects at a total cost of Rs 847.48 crore under the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC), out of which 18 projects have already been completed.
The project funds are released to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) based on the performance of the projects, and around Rs 19 lakh was utilised last year. Overall, India’ total adaptation relevant expenditure has grown from a share of 3.7% in 2015-16 to 5.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021-22, the ministry informed Parliament during the ongoing budget session.
“India’s climate adaptation actions are largely financed through domestic resources. Developed countries have been lagging on providing climate finance in scale, scope, and speed and fulfilling their obligation,” added the minister.
Catch the latest developments on Bangladesh Unrest with our live blog.
Comments
0 comment