Ten big disasters that shook India

New Delhi: Natural disasters come without any warning and when they hit, the toll they take on human lives surpass one's imagination. India has faced all forms of natural tragedies from droughts, famines, earthquakes to cyclones, tsunamis, epidemics, floods, etc. Here is a list of 10 big natural disasters in recent Indian history: 1. Bengal Famine of 1943This was considered the second worst famine to strike Bengal province. The highest mortality was not in the poor groups of the society, but among artisans and small traders whose income vanished when people spent all their savings on food and did not employ artisans. A series of crop failure caused localized famines in 1940-41. Burma was previously the largest exporter of rice to India and a significant portion of it was to Bengal. After the Japanese occupation of Burma during World War 2, rice exports to India became nil. Democratically elected provincial governments and public servants of Indian Civil Service considered that Bengal had plenty of food, which could be made available with good administration. Traders openly hoarded rice to make speculative profits. Imports from Australia and North America were hard to bring in due to the war. In fact, the British rulers turned a bad food shortage into a massive famine through their wartime policies.2. Decccan Famine of 1630-1632 The Deccan Famine was the result of failure of three consecutive staple crops leading to intense hunger and deaths from starvation. The famine desolated Deccan and Gujarat. bdul Hamid Lahori described the horrors of the calamity as, “the inhabitants were reduced to direct extremity. Mughal emperor Shah Jahan distributed about Rs 1.5 lakh in charity, established soup kitchens and remitted taxes to the amount of Rs 70 lakhs, but the relief measures were inadequate. By 1632, about 20 lakh Indians died from the effects of famine.3. Bengal Famine of 1770Bengal endured the most catastrophic famine between 1769 and 1773. The famine also included some regions of Bihar and Orissa, but Bengal was the worst affected region. The population in Bengal was reduced to 30 million with death of one-third of its population. In 1768 there was deficit in agricultural produce, which was nothing out of ordinary. The following year the same trend continued, but on a more severe scale. In September of 1769 there was severe drought leading to even more shortage of food. By mid-1770 death from starvation was occurring on a large scale. The famine resulted in mass migration of surviving population towards jungles, who never returned for decades to come. 4. 1737 Calcutta CycloneIn 1737, Calcutta witnessed one of the worst cyclones in recorded history of India. Hurricane force winds were reported to be accompanied by an earthquake and extensive flooding with an estimated death toll of 3,00,000. The absence of evidence for soil liquefaction suggests that perhaps no substantial earthquake occurred. The population of Calcutta, a new city which was being established by Job Charnock at that time was around 3,000 to 20,000. The fatalities estimated in London and French journals exceeded the official report of more than 3000. Although official reports discussed only the damage in Calcutta, it is possible that the 3,00,000 estimated fatalities included those in coastal villages in what is now West Bengal and Bangladesh. 5. Third Plague PandemicThe pandemic was worldwide and is infamously known as third plague pandemic. The bubonic plague began in Yunnan province of China in 1855. The plague came to India in 1894. The outbreak was sudden and had an incubation period of 4.5 to 6 days and on the onset of symptoms those infected had high fever often accompanied by delirium. Soon they had swollen glands and death occurred at the end of 48 hours from the onset of symptoms. The epidemic was initially reported in port cities of Mumbai, Karachi, Pune and Kolkata. By 1899, the disease had spread to other parts of India and rural communities. In Kolkata, 34,000 deaths were reported in a single week. By 1900, Chennai was struck with plague and by early 20th century, lague had spread that large parts of the world. 6. 1839 Coringa CycloneOn November 25, 1839, an enormous cyclone caused a 40-foot storm surge that hit the ancient city of Coringa in present Andhra Pradesh. The cyclone wiped out the harbor city, destroyed 25,000 ships and vessels in its bay, and killed 3,00,000 people. Survivors never entirely rebuilt the city. City of Coringa was known for ship building and repairing. From Coringa harbor a wide range of goods were exported to Southeast Asian countries and ships from United Kingdom, France, Netherlands and Portugal were repaired. 7. Great Famine of 1876-1878 There were two most notable famines in the 19th century, in 1870s and 1890s in India. The estimated death toll from the great famine of 1876 to 1878 is estimated to be anywhere between 50 lakhs to 80 lakhs officially, but George Monbiot claimed the estimates to be between 1.2 crore to 3 crore. It is also known as the Madras famine of 1877. Intense drought had resulted in shortfall of crops in the Deccan Plateau. Also the British rulers' policy to cultivate cash crops and excessive export of food grains was blamed as the reason behind the famine. 8. 1993 Latur Earthquake On September 30, 1993 an earthquake measuring 7.4 on Richter scale struck at 4 a.m. in Maharashtra. The worst affected districts were Latur and Osmanabad. Approximately 20,000 people died and around 30,000 were injured. Indian Army and Indian Paramilitary Forces were called in for relief efforts. About 52 villages were totally destroyed. 9. 2001 Gujarat EarthquakeOn January 26, 2001 when India was celebrating its 51st Republic Day, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 on Richter scale hit at about 08:46 a.m. in Kutch district of Gujarat. Around 20,000 people were killed, 1,67,000 injured and about 6,00,000 people were left homeless. The city of Bhuj that lied only 20 km from the epicenter was totally devastated. Total damages were assessed to be in excess of $5.5 billion. Indian army was called in for rescue and relief efforts. 10. 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami The tsunami was triggered by an earthquake on December 26, 2004 near the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The earthquake registered 9.0 on Richter scale. An estimated 10,136 people died, 5,832 reported missing and lakhs of people were rendered homeless according to the official reports given by Indian government. The worst affected region in India was the Andaman and Nicobar group of islands with death toll exceeding 7000. The tsunami affected 2,260 km of Indian coastline. On the mainland, Tamil Nadu was worst effected in a concentration of 500-1000 metres from the coastline.