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624 killed in ongoing monsoon season, highest in Gujarat: Data

Jul 16, 2023 12:17 AM IST

Home ministry data revealed that in the 2023 south-west monsoon season since June, 624 people have died in India due to rain- related incidents, almost 32% less than last year for the same period, primarily because of lower rainfall in eastern and central India

New Delhi:

Shimla: Damaged sheds of the Bhattakufer apple market after a landslide due to heavy monsoon rainfall on June 12. (PTI)
Shimla: Damaged sheds of the Bhattakufer apple market after a landslide due to heavy monsoon rainfall on June 12. (PTI)

In the 2023 south-west monsoon season since June, 624 people have died in India due to rain- related incidents, almost 32% less than last year for the same period, primarily because of lower rainfall in eastern and central India, home ministry data showed.

The home ministry’s report on deaths and damage to property, including agriculture, across the states clearly links deaths and loss to property with heavy rainfall as many parts of India have received lower than normal rainfall this year compared to 2022. It is corroborated by rainfall data of the India Meteorological Department, which shows 12 states including Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have received deficient rainfall.

The interesting case in point is Himachal Pradesh, which recorded 223 mm of rainfall, highest in the past 50 years for some places such as Solan and Una , and has been focus of rain fury, with close to 60,000 people stranded across the state. Most of them have been rescued by now.

So far this monsoon season, 99 people have died in Himachal Pradesh compared to 187 in 2022, the ministry’s data showed. Explaining this, a state government disaster management official said there was no major road accident during rains this year because of better alert system on landslides and rain fury started after the peak tourist season, which ended by June 30. However, property damage this year in Himachal was almost five times of 2022, data shows.

In fact, more people died in Gujarat (103) than Himachal, probably because of cyclone Biparjoy in June and related heavy rainfall later. Karnataka reported 87 deaths and Rajasthan 36, according to home ministry data.

The severely flood-hit Punjab and Haryana have reported 11 and 19 deaths, respectively, compared to five and zero last year. Still, several areas in the two states, such as Ludhiana and Patiala in Punjab and Yamunanagar and Karnal in Haryana, are still flooded.

Comparison of home ministry’s daily situation reports showed that in 2022, 193 people died in Assam compared to 38 this southwest monsoon season. In 2022, 89 people died in Meghalaya and Manipur because of heavy rains compared to eight this year. Both these northeastern states have recorded deficient rainfall in the 2023 monsoon season.

Another reason for lower total deaths this year is not much rainfall in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, which together reported 187 deaths in 2022 as compared to 92 this year till June 15.

Around two lakh hectares of farmland has been affected by the monsoon rains this year compared to 2.48 lakh hectares in 2022, the report also said.

Damage to homes this year has been less than in 2022 because of lower rains in the plains of India, the report suggested.

Various studies have shown that the southwest monsoon is getting erratic with increase in extreme weather events in the past two decades.

Since 2013, where thousands of people died in Kedarnath in Uttarakhand because of extreme rainfall, there has not been a single year which has not seen a major extreme rainfall event, according to the weather bureau.

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