The Centre informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that 2,936 people lost their lives due to hydro-meteorological disasters in 2024, with Himachal Pradesh reporting the highest casualties. Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai stated that 408 deaths occurred in Himachal Pradesh, followed by 373 in Madhya Pradesh, 355 in Kerala, 230 in Gujarat, and 206 in Maharashtra. Other affected states included Karnataka (185 deaths), Rajasthan (131), Assam (128), and Chhattisgarh (125).
Rai clarified that the Union Home Ministry does not centrally maintain data on damages caused by disasters like floods and landslides. Instead, the figures were compiled based on reports from state governments and Union Territories.
In total, 3,63,381 houses/huts were damaged, and 61,826 cattle lost. Assam saw the highest housing damage (1,56,691), followed by Tripura (67,487), Manipur (29,369), Karnataka (22,414), and Gujarat (20,741).
Under the National Policy on Disaster Management, state governments are primarily responsible for disaster relief using funds from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), with the Centre providing additional financial and logistical support.
For disasters of ‘severe nature,’ the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) provides extra assistance based on assessments by Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs). Rai stated that 14 IMCTs were constituted for various states and UTs, including Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, Kerala, Nagaland, Tripura, Gujarat, Telangana, West Bengal, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry to assess damages in 2024. Their reports will be reviewed by the central government following established procedures. (With inputs from agencies)