COVID-19, landslide, cyclones, plane crash: Disasters in India in 2020

When people bid adieu to 2019 and welcomed 2020 with a joyful heart no one imagined that this year shall be regarded as one of the catastrophic years for not just India but the whole world From the most deadly virus ever known to mankind to locust attack from floods and landslides in several states to plane crash this seems like the year that humans were always warned ofHere are some of the deadliest disasters that happened in India in 2020 so farCoronavirusA health worker checks the body temperature of a womanCOVID19 the deadliest virus that the humankind has ever witnessed started from Chinas Wuhan city in December 2019 First case surfaced in Keralas Thrissur district in January end when a student studying in Wuhan university returned to India He was part of the group of Indian citizens that were airlifted from China In February Kerala declared COVID19 as a state calamity In February end India conducted the final airlift from Wuhan bringing back 759 IndiansIn March India started screening all international passengers across the airports and World Health Organisation WHO also declared COVID19 as a pandemic On March 12 India reported its first death A 76yearold man from Karnatakas Kalburgi district became the first victim of the virus The same day India also banned the entry of foreigners for a month and suspended all visasOn March 25 Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown till April 14 which was further extended till May 3 On May 1 the Union government announced that the lockdown has been extended till May 17 By midMay India with over 85000 cases surpassed Chinas total number of cases reported On May 17 the lockdown was further extended till May 31Migrant labours undergo thermal screening at Dadar railway station in wake of the coronavirus pandemic in Mumbai PicPTIAfter 75 days of lockdown and with over 25 lakh cases and 7200 deaths India started reopening the country in a phased manner from June 8On Saturday Indias COVID19 tally stood at 2975701 while the number of recoveries surged to over 15 lakh The deathtoll climbed to 55794 according to Union Health Ministry dataCyclone AmphanA woman salvages items from her house damaged by cyclone Amphan in Midnapore West Bengal Pic AFPWhile India was battling with pandemic a super cyclone Amphan created havoc in West Bengal and Odisha in May Amphan was a tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in eastern India and BangladeshIt originated from a lowpressure area persisting a couple hundred miles 300 km east of Colombo Sri Lanka on 13 May 2020 It was said to be the fiercest cyclone to hit in 100 years It triggered heavy rainfall coupled with highvelocity winds while moving towards the West Bengal As many as 72 people were killed in West BengalA total of 148486 people were evacuated from lowlying areas and thatched and mud houses and accommodated in 2921 cyclone shelters Besides 1885 pregnant women were shifted to hospitals for better care West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that the impact of Amphan was worse than coronavirusStrong winds with speed of up to 133 kmph per hour had upturned cars in Kolkata Uprooted trees and electricity poles blocked important roads and intersections Mobile and internet services were also down as several communication towers were damaged Streets and homes in lowlying areas of Kolkata were swamped with rainwaterCyclone Amphan gathered strength and intensified into a severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal PicPTIThe National Disaster Response Force NDRF had sent teams for relief and rescue operations In all 21 NDRF teams were deployed in West Bengal and 20 were positioned in OrissaThe state officials had said that the cyclone caused a damage of 1 trillion rupees to infrastructure and crops in West BengalLocust attackA locust nest on a mango tree in Bhandara districtMillions of desert locusts swarmed six states Rajasthan Gujarat Punjab Haryana Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh ndash in MayJune It was said to be one of the worst pest attacks in over 2 decades The locusts which entered India were about 1012 days old and were flying huge distances in search of foodAs per reports desert locusts are considered to be the most devastating migratory pests globally A one square kilometre swarm contains about 40 million locusts They can eat as much food as 35000 people per day The sudden increase in locusts has been credited to climate change The increase in temperature has made it more habitable for breeding and swarming of these cropdevouring shorthorned insectsThis picture has been used for representation purpose onlyOn April 30 the locusts initially flew across IndiaPakistan border They entered several districts of Rajasthan via Pakistans Sindh province On July 4 a bell helicopter took its first sortie in Rajasthans Jaisalmer district and completed the spraying of chemicals in targeted areas Few days later they entered the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh and from there they went to Uttar PradeshOn May 27 the locusts entered Maharashtra The state government had estimated that approximately eight crore locusts had entered different parts of Maharashtra ndash including Amravati Wardha and Nagpur Insecticides were sprayed in various parts of Amravati as 1015 lakh locusts had swarmed in the region The locusts had damaged oranges orchards and vegetable plantations in some areas of Nagpur and Wardha districts in MaharashtraCyclone NisargaVillagers clear debris of a house destroyed in the June 3 cyclone at Ade village on Friday PicAtul KambleCyclone Nisarga made landfall on the Maharashtra coast near Alibaug a popular getaway about 100 km from Mumbai on June 3 Alibaug reported wind speed of 93 km per hour The tropical storm crossed the coast with wind speeds of 100110 km per hour gusting up to 120 km per hourIn Mumbai the BandaWorli sea link was closed for traffic and in Maharashtra more than 40000 people were moved to safety Fortythree teams of National Disaster Response Force NDRF were deployed along Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts Life guards were deployed at all beaches from Girgaon to Gorai with jet keys and other safety devicesOne of the many houses damaged in NizampurMumbai made a narrow escape from the cyclone but certain areas of Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMR Navi Mumbai and Thane were affected Power outages were reported in few areas and tree felling incidents took place in several parts of the city due to the strong winds that came with the cycloneAlibaug Raigad and Palghar were the most affected areas in the state Many households infrastructures and local businesses were hit by the massive cycloneOn June 5 Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray visited Raigad to take stock of the situation and announced an initial aid of Rs 100 crore In the first week of August 100 per cent power restoration work was completed in Raigad districtMumbai floodsA waterlogged Girgaon Chowpatty on Wednesday Pic Bipin KokateMumbai witnessed incessant rainfall on August 45 bringing back the memories of 2005 floods in the city Waterlogged roads uprooted trees and abandoned cars added to the traffic mayhem Train and bus services were also suspended and passengers from stranded local trains were rescued by NDRF teamsLarge parts of south Mumbai were inundated after the city recorded its heaviest singleday downpour in August in 46 years with 2938 mm of rainfall Areas like Churchgate Marine Drive Fort Girgaum Khetwadi Walkeshwar Road J J Marg Gol Deol Bhendi Bazaar Kalbadevi were flooded and water entered several housesA 35yearold woman and her two children were swept away in a swollen drain after their house in Santacruz collapsed due to heavy rain The woman and her three children aged between one to seven years fell into the flooded drain and were swept away While the police managed to rescue a twoyearold girl the bodies of woman and her two other children were retrieved laterIncidents of house collapse were also reported from various parts of the cityPeople wade through flooded streets at Hindmata near Dadar Pic Suresh KKThe Western Railway had announced on Twitter that due to heavy rainfall all local train services between Churchgate and Mumbai Central stations have been temporarily suspendedMaharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asked people to stay indoors and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC opened temporary shelters in municipal schools to ensure that citizens do not face any hardships Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the Chief Minister and took stock of the situation in Mumbai and surrounding areas and assured all possible supportSince years the situation has remained adverse in Mumbai during monsoons Almost every year the suburban trains are affected and lowlying areas get floodedAssam floodsVillagers indulge in fishing in the flooded Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary of Assam PicPTILike previous years this year too Assam has witnessed a devastating flood which has so far killed 113 people and over 569 lakh got affected in 30 districts The annual monsoon floods damaged crops infrastructure and assetsThe flooded districts were Dhemaji Lakhimpur Sonitpur Biswanath Darrang Baksa Nalbari Barpeta Chirang Bongaigaon Kokrajhar Dhubri South Salmara Goalpara Kamrup Kamrup Metropolitan Morigaon Nagaon Golaghat Jorhat Majuli Sivasagar Charaideo Dibrugarh Tinsukia West Karbi Anglong and CacharA total of 208 relief camps were set up for thousands of people who were displaced in the deluge Also nearly 93000 hectares of crop area in the state was inundatedThe animals too were not spared These include the endangered rhinos in the world famous Kaziranga National Park home to more than 2200 onehorned Indian rhinosA screengrab of the video shared by Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve on TwitterThis year at least 137 wild animals lost their lives due to the floods while 163 were rescued as over 95 per cent of the 884 sq km Kaziranga Park was flooded The animals that have perished in the monsoon floods this year include 14 rhinos 101 hog deer ten wild boars five wild buffaloes three porcupines and two swamp deerEach year the monsoon floods inundating Kaziranga force a large number of wild animals to leave the park and head towards the nearby hills in Karbi Anglong district by crossing National Highway37 that passes near the parks boundaryFormed in 1908 the Kaziranga National Park a Unesco World Heritage site since 1985 is home to more than 2200 onehorned Indian rhinoceros approximately two third of the total world populationWith the respite in the monsoon rains the twomonth long Assam floods significantly improved in the first week of AugustLandslide in Keralas IdukkiThe destruction caused due to landslide in Idukkis Rajamala Kerala Pic ANI TwitterOn August 10 tea estate workers in Keralas Idukki district woke up to a massive landslide that claimed 55 lives and 15 are still missing The landslide that occurred about 30 km from the popular tourist destination of Munnar flattened 20 houseesFour rows of estate workers houses attached to the Tata Tea estate were completely destroyed in the landslide In all there were said to be 73 people residing in those housesA 200member team of Kerala Police had reached the spot for rescue work The women residents of the locality work in tea estates in the area while most men work as jeep driversThe Kerala governments efforts to get an air rescue team to the spot had failed due to inclement weather The roads to the hilly area were blocked due to the uprooting of treesWhile the Kerala government has announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the bereaved families Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced Rs 2 lakh for each family from Prime Ministers National Relief Fund PMNRFKozhikode plane crashThe Air India Express aircraft broke into two pieces after the crash Pic APOn August 7 an Air India Express plane skidded while landing at Karipur Airport in Kozhikode leaving 18 dead including the two pilots and over 100 others injuredThe Air India Express aircraft carrying 190 persons including six crew members was flying in from Dubai It skidded off the runway while landing amid heavy rain in Kozhikode and plunged into the deep valley belowThe flight was repatriating Indian nationals stranded abroad due to the COVID19 pandemic as part of the Vande Bharat Mission One of the 18 passengers who died in the plane crash had tested positive for COVID19The Kozhikode airport in Kerala has a tabletop runway and is operated by the Airports Authority of India AAI Generally tabletop runways are constructed on a hilly or an elevated terrainThe debris of the Air India Express flight that skidded off a runway while landing File picAPThe central government had announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of each deceased and Rs 2 lakh for those with serious injuries Union Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri had announced Rs 50000 as compensation for those who suffered minor injuriesAir Marshal Retired Bhushan Gokhale who investigated the Mangalore plane crash listed possible causes behind this plane tragedy He said Since it was raining heavily in Kerala The accumulation of rainwater on the runway surface in the rainy season is the riskiest thing Rubber in the plane tires melts while landing and thats why smoke comes out In this case if the water is on the runway there will be a problem while landingAs per an official the plane was owned by the airline and not a leased one so it will get the entire claim of 50 millionKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news