New Delhi: As many as 970 people have lost their lives due to natural calamities in different states across India to date during the current monsoon. The Central Government has also released Rs 2446.80 crore to nine states as the first instalment under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
According to government statistics accessed by ETV Bharat Assam (193), Himachal Pradesh (187) and Maharashtra (99) registered maximum casualties in the current monsoon. As many as 174 people in Assam died from drowning and 19 people died due to landslides. As many as 187 people died in Himachal Pradesh this monsoon out of whom 37 died due to drowning, two people died due to lightning, six died due to landslide and 147 died due to other reasons in the current monsoon season.
Gujarat registered 88 death, Manipur 53, Bihar 50, and 36 deaths took place in Meghalaya. As many as 34 districts in Assam have been affected by floods and landslides, whereas the number of affected districts in Madhya Pradesh is 32, Gujarat 26, and Arunachal Pradesh 25. At least 82 people in different states were reported missing in natural calamity with Assam registering 37 such cases, followed by Manipur(12), Meghalaya (11) and Maharashtra (6).
Also read:76 dead in rain-related incidents in Maharashtra so far this monsoon: Report
According to government statistics, 29700 houses in 16 States were fully damaged and 250213 houses were partially damaged. As many as 4451 relief camps have been set up in 11 States with Assam having the maximum number of relief camps (4064) followed by Tripura (63), Maharashtra (53), and Arunachal Pradesh (51).
The Centre has released an amount of Rs 2446.80 crore as the first instalment to nine States under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for providing relief and rehabilitation. Government data said that Rajasthan has been provided with maximum central assistance of Rs 622.40 crore, followed by Bihar (Rs 594.80 crore), Andhra Pradesh (Rs 470.00 crore), Assam (Rs 324.40 crore), Punjab (Rs 208.00 crore), Himachal Pradesh (Rs 171.20 crore), Sikkim (Rs 21.20 crore), Manipur (17.60 crore), Nagaland (Rs 17.20 crore).
Following directives from Home Minister Amit Shah, the second instalment of Rs 324.40 crore has already been released to Assam. The SDRF set up under Section 48 (1) (a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, is the primary fund available to State governments for response to notified disasters like cyclones, drought, earthquakes, fire, floods, tsunamis, hailstorms, landslide, avalanche, cloudburst, pest attack, frost and cold waves.
Under SDRF, the central government contributes 75 per cent of the allocation for general category states and UTs and 90 per cent for special category states and UTs (Northeast States, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir).
