Natural disasters caused 2.5 million internal displacements in India in 2022, report says
The Hindu
A report by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre states that India has had over 2.5 million internal displacements caused by natural disasters, most of which were caused by floods.
According to a report by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, natural disasters, especially heavy floods and cyclones, triggered around 2.5 million internal displacements in India in 2022.
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South Asia witnessed 12.5 million internal displacements due to disasters in 2022, with floods triggering 90% of the movements in the region.
“All countries recorded flood displacement, but Pakistan, India and Bangladesh were the most affected. Most movements occurred during the southwest monsoon between June and September,” the report said.
Last year, India and Bangladesh started to experience flooding even before the official onset of the monsoon season.
Assam was affected by early floods in May, and the same areas were again flooded in June. Nearly five million people were affected across the state.
Torrential rain that hit India in May also caused rivers to overflow in neighbouring Bangladesh, triggering nearly 5,500 displacements.
While residents are worried over deaths due to diarrhoea in Vijayawada, officials still grapple to find the root cause. Contaminated drinking water supplied by VMC officials is the reason, insist people in the affected areas, but officials insist that efforts are on to identify the disease and that those with symptoms other than diarrhoea too are visiting the health camps.