2,422 people died due to calamities in 2019-20, Madhya Pradesh tops the list

Over 2,400 people and 71,000 cattle have lost their lives and over 114 lakh hectares of agricultural land have been affected by hydro-meteorological calamities, including floods and droughts, in the country in the current fiscal so far.

Over 7.44 lakh houses were damaged in the calamities between 1 April, 2019 and 20 February, 2020.

The statistics provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) showed that a total of 2,422 people lost their lives in these calamities with Madhya Pradesh topping the list with 674 deaths followed by 253 in Maharashtra. Karnataka reported 91 deaths.

West Bengal reported 227 human deaths while Gujarat has reported 195, Uttar Pradesh 166 and Bihar 133.

When it comes to crop area affected, Madhya Pradesh tops the list with 60.47 lakh hectares followed by Rajasthan 23.92 lakh hectares and Karnataka 9.35 lakh hectares.

Of the 7.44 lakh houses damaged, Assam's 1.40 lakh residential units suffered damages,followed by Karnataka's 15 lakh and Maharashtra's 1.09 lakh houses, according to the data presented in Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Karnataka has the bulk -- 59,600 out of 71,755 -- cattles lost across the country.

During 2019-20, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai has said, 14 flood-affected states, including Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, have submitted memorandum to the MHA seeking additional assistance from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF). Rs 5,239.67 crore has been released as additional assistance to various states during this period.

Besides, a total of Rs 14,108.58 crore has been released to eight states from the NDRF with Maharashtra topping the list with Rs 3,431.22 crore followed by Odisha with Rs 3,114.46 crore and Rs 3,196.80 crore.

The Centre has also released Rs 10,429.32 crore as its share to the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) to all the states during this fiscal till February 20 this year. Of this, Karnataka has got Rs 304 crore.