23-07-2025
Over 1,000 dead in rains till July 16; Andhra logs most monsoon deaths
The country recorded a total of 1,297 deaths due to intense rainfall between April 1 and July 16 this year, with the highest number of deaths in Andhra Pradesh at a toll of 258, followed by 171 deaths in Himachal Pradesh, 148 in Madhya Pradesh, and 101 in Bihar, ministry of home affairs informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Andhra Pradesh has been hit the hardest this monsoon season.(PTI File)
It added a total of 51,699 cattle were lost, 92,663 houses damaged and 154,394.27 ha cropped area affected during the period.
Minister of state for home Nityanand Rai, responding to questions by BJP MPs Sudheer Gupta and Manish Jaiswal and Shiv Sena MPs Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane and Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan Patil, said, 'An Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) has been constituted for Himachal Pradesh, without waiting for the memorandum, to visit the affected areas of the State for assessment of damages caused by the flash flood/ floods, cloudburst and landslides.'
The MPs asked about the loss of property and human life due to heavy rainfall, the total human casualties and property losses across various states, and whether the government has constituted any central team to visit the affected areas. 'Due to highly favourable synoptic systems and monsoonal winds, central and western parts of India, have experienced heavy rainfall spells, leading to excess to large excess rainfall over these areas, due to which early flood incidents have also been reported,' a written response said, adding the ministry does not centrally maintain the data of damages.
The ministry said Himachal Pradesh recorded a loss of 23,818 cattle and 1,528 homes, and there were 325 cattle deaths in Madhya Pradesh along with damage to 986 homes. Assam recorded highest damage to cropped area covering 29,714.89 ha.
It added that during the current financial year (as on 15th July, 2025), the Central Government has released a central share of ₹9578.4 crore to 22 states under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to support the affected people.
'The financial assistance under SDRF/ NDRF in the wake of natural disasters is by way of relief and not for compensation of loss as suffered/ claimed. As per the National Policy on Disaster Management, the primary responsibility for disaster management rests with the State Governments concerned. However, financial assistance to notified calamities is provided from SDRF/ NDRF as per established procedure. The State Government concerned is required to undertake necessary relief measures in the landslides affected areas out of the SDRF, already placed with the State Government, as per Government of India norms,' Centre added.
