Magazine : 
Over 2 Million Displaced In India Due To Natural Disasters
BANGALORE: According to an UN-backed report, last year in India, natural calamities forced almost 2.14 million people out of their homes, which led to displacements, reports PTI.
India is ranked third, after Philippines and China, to record the highest levels of displacement in 2013. This was caused mainly due to earthquakes and climatic changes.
Last year alone, 2.14 million people were displaced in India due to natural hazard-related events, while conflict and violence displaced 64,000 people. “Between 2008 and 2013, 80.9 percent of displacement took place in Asia. The regions accounted for the 14 largest displacements of 2013 and the five countries with the highest displacement levels were the Philippines, China, India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam,” the report Global Estimates 2014 said.
In May, due to cyclone Mahasen, around 1.1 million people migrated in Bangladesh. In October, extensive monsoon season floods displaced over a million in several Indian states.
In the same month, cyclone Phailin brought extensive destruction to eastern coastal areas and forced the migration of another million people.
China, India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and the U.S. had the highest numbers of people displaced by disasters which happened between “2008-2013.”
The report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre illustrates that displacement almost doubled, over the last four decades, due to natural calamities, mainly because of the growth and concentration of urban populations, mostly in helpless countries.
Secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland said, “This increasing trend will continue as more and more people live and work in hazard-prone areas. It is expected to be aggravated in the future by the impacts of climate change.”
Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said, “The number of people who need humanitarian assistance, and the cost of helping them, are skyrocketing. We need to shift our focus to prevention and preparedness in close cooperation with national partners.”
