Floods have claimed over 1 lakh lives in last 64 yrs

New Delhi, July 29: Nearly one lakh people died while property worth over eight crore was damaged in flood-related incidents in the last 64 years, according to government data.

According to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, in this duration, there was loss of Rs 2,02,474 crore to public property and crops worth Rs 1,09,202 crore on 25.6 crore hectare land were damaged.

As per the data, 1,654 people and 92,763 animals were killed due to floods on an average every year in the last 64 years. On an average 71.69 lakh hectare land was affected, crops worth Rs 1,680 crore and 12.40 lakh houses were damaged.

Between 1953 and 2017, 205.8 crore people were affected on 46.60 crore hectare land in different states and union territories in the country.

Magsaysay award winner Rajendra Singh said, "Flood and drought are two sides of a coin and their solution is possible only through proper water management."

The government needs to think about present policies for constructing dams, he said. The former chief of the National Disaster Management Authority, Noor Mohammad, said: "No proper management was done for flood control. Villages on the river banks have no safety."

He said there was need to identify areas which were more prone to floods. According to the ministry, 11,316 people died in 1977, highest from 1953 to 2017. Over five lakh animals also died this year.

PTI