Vulnerability Profile of India:

• India is vulnerable, in varying degrees, to a large number of disasters. Around 59% of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of moderate to very high intensity.
• About 12% (over 40 million hectares) of its land is prone to floods and river erosion.
• Close to 5,700 kms, out of the 7,516 kms long coastline is prone to cyclones and tsunamis.
• 68% of its cultivable area is vulnerable to droughts; and the hilly areas are at risk from landslides and avalanches.
• Moreover, India is also vulnerable to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) emergencies and other man-made disasters.
• Disaster risks in India are further compounded by increasing vulnerabilities related to changing demographics and socio-economic conditions, unplanned urbanization, development within high-risk zones, environmental degradation, climate change, geological hazards, epidemics and pandemics.
• Clearly, all these contribute to a situation where disasters seriously threaten India’s economy, its population and sustainable development.

Worst Disasters in India:

• Kashmir Floods (2014)affected Srinagar, Bandipur, Rajouri etc. areas of J&K have resulted into death of more than 500 people.
• Uttarakhand Flash Floods (2013)affected Govindghat, Kedar Dome, Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand and resulted into death of more than 5,000 people.
• The Indian Ocean Tsunami (2004)affected parts of southern India and Andaman Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka, Indonesia etc., and resulted in the death of more than 2 lakh people.
• Gujarat Earthquake (2001)affected Bhuj, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Kutch, Surat, Surendranagar, Rajkot district, Jamnagar and Jodia districts of Gujarat and resulted in death of more than 20,000 people.
• Odisha Super Cyclone or Paradip cyclone (1999)affected the coastal districts of Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Balasore, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Ganjam etc., and resulted into death of more than 10,000 people.
• The Great Famine (1876-1878)affected Madras, Mysore, Hyderabad, and Bombay and resulted into death of around 3 crore people. Even today, it is considered as one of the worst natural calamities in India of all time.
• Coringa Cyclone (1839)that affected Coringa district of Andhra Pradesh and Calcutta Cyclone (1737) are some other instances of natural calamities faced by the country in the past.
• The Bengal Faminein the years 1770 and 1943 affected Bengal, Odisha, Bihar very badly and resulted into death of nearly 1 crore people.
• Bhopal Gas tragedy (December 1984)is one of the worst chemical disasters globally that resulted in over 10,000 losing their lives (the actual number remains disputed) and over 5.5 lakh persons affected and suffering from agonizing injuries.
• In recent times, there have been
  
  
  • cases of railway accidents (Dussehra gathering on the railway tracks crushed by the trains in 2018),

• • fire accidents in hospitals due to negligence and non-implementation of existing mandatory fire safety norms,

• • collapse of various infrastructure constructs like flyovers, metro tracks and residential buildings due to poor quality of construction, illegal addition of floors and recurring floods.

Stampede at large public gathering like Kumbh Mela caused by poor people management and lack of adequate infrastructure to monitor and manage large crowd gathering.