India: 993 deaths due to floods in this year's monsoon & still counting

By Pradeep Thakur

Kerala may have hogged the country's attention with close to 400 deaths and widespread destruction in one of the worst floods in the state's history but nearly 600 lives were lost in four other states due to overflowing rivers, with the home ministry putting the total figure at 993.

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The Centre is yet to impress upon states to make compulsory provision in their budget for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and building resilience rather than spending scarce state and central resources on relief and rehabilitation after every natural calamity. The home ministry recently carried out risk assessment of 640 districts in the country. It created a national resilience index based on performance of states and Union Territories on DRR measures such as risk assessment, risk prevention and mitigation, disaster relief and rehabilitation and disaster reconstruction. The study showed that the level of resilience to disaster was very low and needed "considerable improvement."

"Most states have not conducted comprehensive state specific assessment of hazards, vulnerabilities and exposures of the changing dynamics and complexities of disasters," a report by the home ministry said. Assessments made by states were based on "very coarse scale" without in-depth study at district or village level, relying merely on the vulnerability atlas of India.