Northeast registered 302 deaths in 2022 due to hydro-meteorological calamities: Centre 

At least 302 casualties have been recorded across the 8 Northeast Indian states in 2022 (till July 12) due to hydro-meteorological calamities, Minister of Development of North Eastern Region G. Kishan Reddy stated in a written reply in Lok Sabha on July 25.

For the uninitiated, tropical cyclones, heavy rainfall, severe thunderstorms, floods and drought are classed as hydro-meteorological hazards.

While Assam, which witnessed the worst floods in over a decade, had reported 182 casualties till July 12, Manipur witnessed 53 deaths.

Notably, Assam also lost 53,781 livestock, Minister Reddy wrote in his reply.

Flood management comes under the purview of the state governments, and the schemes for flood control are formulated and implemented by concerned states.

Assam saw two devastating waves of floods this year that left the state crippled with road and rail connectivity cut off and lakhs of hectares of crop land inundated. 

Manipur last month reported the worst landslide in the state’s history. It hit a railway construction camp at the hilly Marangching village (part 5) areas as well as the 107 Territorial Army camps of the Indian Army deployed in the area for the security of the construction site. At least 61 people have died.

The Union government supplements the efforts of the States including the States of North Eastern Region (NER) by providing technical guidance, financial resources and assistance for management of floods in critical areas.

Central assistance of Rs 139.91 crores have been released to the states of NER for anti-erosion/flood control and prevention of landslides during the last 5 years under the schemes of the North Eastern Council, stated a Press Information Bureau (PIB) release.

Several infrastructure development projects including connectivity projects have been taken up by the concerned Ministries and Departments of the Central Government in the North Eastern Region (NER), the Centre said in a release on July 25.

These relate to improving rail connectivity, road connectivity, waterway connectivity, power connectivity and telecom connectivity in the NER.

According to the release, the Centre sanctioned 1,689 projects amounting to Rs.17,748.54 crore, (including connectivity projects), during the financial years 2004-05 to 2013-14. A bulk of these (483) were sanctioned in Assam.