2,422 people died in calamities across India in 2019-20 so far

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

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

The statistics provided by 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 has reported 227 loss of human lives while Gujarat has reported 195, Uttar Pradesh 166 and Bihar 133.

When it comes to crop area affected by calamities, 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 has 1.40 lakh residential units suffering damages, followed by Karnataka 1.15 lakh and Maharashtra 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 Nityananda 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 Karnataka with Rs Rs 3,196.80 crore and Odisha with Rs Rs 3114.46 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.