It includes the major disasters that have occurred in India right from 16th century right until 2014. The presentation includes pictures and relevant maps which show the vulnerability of various regions to natural calamities. The maps have been taken from natural disaster management site

1. HISTORY OF DISASTERS IN INDIA
Presentation by : Shruti Dandawate

2. India’s Vulnerability to Disasters
• 57% land is vulnerable to earthquakes. Of these, 12%
is vulnerable to severe earthquakes.
• 68% land is vulnerable to drought.
• 12% land is vulnerable to floods.
• 8% land is vulnerable to cyclones.
• Apart from natural disasters, some cities in India are
also vulnerable to chemical and industrial disasters
and man-made disasters.

5. Distribution of epicenters of earthquakes greater than magnitude 5.0 for the
period 1976-2000, South East Asia and Indian Ocean

7. Seismic Activity in India
180 AD - 2004

8. Deccan famine of 1632-33
• One of the most severe famines to be
affected in 1632-33.
Almost 20 lakh people died in the natural
disaster. According to historians, the famine
was caused as a result of three successive
staple crop failures which led to starvation
and diseases that were incurable then

9. 1737 Calcutta cyclone
• It was a catastrophe
in terms of property
and lives lost. It was a
devastating cyclone
that killed nearly 3.2
lakh people and also
destroyed about
25,000 ships and
vessels in the harbour
city.

10. 1770 Bengal
famine
The Great Bengal Famine was a large famine
in Bengal during the British rule in the
period of 1769-1773. Bengal famine was
caused the deaths of 10 million people in
Bengal, Bihar and some parts of Odisha.

11. 1839 Coringa cyclone
• The Coringa Cyclone
was one of the 10
big disasters that
shook India, struck
at a tiny village of
Godavari district in
Andhra
Pradesh. The Great
Coringa Cyclone
killed around 20,000
people in the
ancient city of
Coringa

12. 1894 Third Plague Pandemic
• The major plague pandemic came to British
India in 1894, killing more than 12 million
people in India and China alone. Third Plague
Pandemic was initially seen in port cities such
as Bombay and Kolkata then spread to small
towns and rural areas of many regions of
India.

13. Bengal famine of 1943
• The Bengal famine of 1943 struck the Bengal
province of pre-partition British India during
World War II.
Between 1.5 million and 4 million people died
of starvation, malnutrition and disease, out of
Bengal's 60.3 million population, half of them
dying from disease after food became
available in December 1943.

15. 1979Lahaul Valley Avalanche
• Lahaul Spiti valley receives heavy snowfall
during the winter season, causes
Avalanches. The LaHaul Valley disaster in
March of 1979 buried 200 people under 20
feet of snow, the only avalanche in the
Himalayas and one of the 10 deadliest
Avalanches in History of world.

16. 1984 Bhopal gas
tragedy
Bhopal gas tragedy, was a gas leak incident in
India, considered the world's worst industrial
disaster.[1] It occurred on the night of 2–3
December 1984 at the Union Carbide India
Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal,
Madhya Pradesh. Over 500,000 people were
exposed to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and
other chemicalsThe government of Madhya
Pradesh confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths
related to the gas release

17. 1993 Latur earthquake
• The deadliest earthquake rocked Maharashtra
on September 30, 1993. It was measured 6.4
on the Richter scale.
The death toll was more than 20,000 while
almost 30,000 were injured. 52 villages were
devastated in the intraplate earthquake

19. 1998Malpa Landslide
• Heavy rainfall caused, Malpa landslide was
one of worst landslides in India, at village
Malpa in Pithoragarh of Uttarkhand. Around
380 people were killed when massive
landslides washed the entire village along with
Hindu pilgrims of Kailash Mansarovar yatra.

20. 1999Odisha
Cyclone
• The 1999 Odisha
cyclone also known
as super cyclone was
the most
deadliest tropical
cyclone in the Indian
Ocean and most
destructive Indian
storm since 1971. It
caused almost deaths
of 15,000 people and
made heavy to
extreme damage.

21. 2001 Gujrat earthquake
• The massive earthquake occurred on India’s
51st Republic Day on January 26, 2001 at
Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District of
Gujarat. Gujarat earthquake had a magnitude
of between 7.6 and 7.7 and killed around
20,000 people while 167,000 were injured
• Nearly, 400,000 homes were demolished

23. 2002 Indian Heat Wave
• India’s heat wave in 2002 at south region
killed more than 1000 people, Most of the
deaths occurred in state of Andhra
Pradesh. The heat was so intense that birds
fell from the sky, ponds and rivers dried up.

24. New Delhi, May 15 2002
Temperature- hitting 104-113 degrees
Bhopal, India, Sunday, June 9, 2002.

25. 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
• With the magnitude of 9.1–9.3, it was the third largest
earthquake of the world recorded ever. Almost 227,898
people died.
The earthquake had the longest duration of faulting ever
observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes.
Experts say the earthquake that caused tsunami was so
powerful that its impact can be equated to the energy of
23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs.
The huge waves of tsunami killed lakhs of people in South
India, Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

27. 2007 Bihar Flood
• The 2007- 2008 Bihar flood are listed as the
worst hit flood in the living memory of Bihar in
last 30 years. Bihar is India’s most flood-prone
State, a recurring disaster appears annual
basis and destroys thousands of human lives
apart from livestock and assets worth millions.

28.  The 2005 Maharashtra
floods was occurred
just one month after
the June 2005 Gujarat
floods, Mumbai the
capital city was most
badly affected and
witnessed one of its
worst catastrophes in
the history of
India, killing at least
5,000 people

29.  The Eastern Indian storm was a severe
storm struck parts of eastern Indian states
spanning for 30–40 minutes. At least 91
people died in Indian states and Over
91,000 dwellings were destroyed and
partially damaged

30. 2013 Maharashtra draught
• Maharashtra state was
affected by the region’s
worst drought in 40
years,worst-hit areas are
Jalna, Jalgaon and Dhule
are also affected by the
famine. Millions of people
in Maharashtra are at
serious risk of hunger after
two years of low rainfall in
the region.

31. 2013 Uttarakhand
• On June 2013 Uttarakhand received heavy
rainfall,massive Landslides due to the large
flashfloods, it suffered maximum damage of
houses and structures, killing more than 1000
people, sources claimed the death toll could
be rise up to 5000. Uttarakhand Flash Floods
is the most disastrous floods in the history of
India

33. Malin landslide 2014
On 30 July 2014, a landslide occurred in the village of Malin in the Ambegaon
taluka of the Pune district in Maharashtra, India. The landslide, which hit early in
the morning while residents were asleep, was believed to have been caused by a
burst of heavy rainfall, and killed at least 134 people

34. New Directions for Disaster
Management in India
• The National Disaster Management Authority
(NDMA) has been set up as the apex body for
Disaster Management in India, with the Prime
Minister as its Chairman.
• Disaster Management Authorities will be set up at
the State and District Levels to be headed by the
Chief Ministers and Collectors/Zilla Parishad
Chairmen respectively.

35. Best Practices
• On 12 November, 1970 a major cyclone hit the coastal
belt of Bangladesh at 223 km/hr. with a storm surge of six
to nine meters height, killing an estimated 500,000
people.
• Due to the Cyclone Preparedness Program, the April 1991
cyclone with wind speed of 225 km/hr. killed only
138,000 people even though the coastal population had
doubled by that time.
• In May 1994, in a similar cyclone with a wind speed of
250 km/hr. only 127 people lost their lives.
• In May 1997, in a cyclone with wind speed of 200 km/hr.
only 111 people lost their lives.

36. Thank you