NEW DELHI: Over 2,000 people lost their lives and another 45 were reported missing this monsoon season due to rains and floods, which affected more than 26 lakh people in 22 states.
Officials in the Union Home Ministry said on Wednesday that a total of 2,155 lives were lost due to extreme weather events such as rains, floods and landslides that hit as many as 361 districts across the country.
Maharashtra reported the maximum casualties with 430 deaths due to rains, while West Bengal came a distant second with 227 fatalities. According to the officials, 803 people were injured and nearly 20,000 animals lost across the country in heavy rains and floods, which fully damaged 2.23 lakh houses, partially damaged 2.06 lakh houses and destroyed 14.09 lakh hectares of crops.
ALSO READ: Vijayawada reliving monsoon nightmare
Though the monsoon remains active in a few parts of the country, the season officially ended on September 30. During the four-month period, the country recorded the highest rainfall since 1994, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
In Maharashtra, where 22 districts were hit by floods, 430 people died, 398 were injured and 7.19 lakh people forced to seek shelter in 305 relief camps. The monsoon rains and floods hit 22 districts in West Bengal, where 227 people lost their lives, 37 were injured, four reported missing and 43,433 took shelter in 280 relief camps.
ALSO READ | Maharashtra rains: Flood death toll in Pune division mounts to 56
In Bihar, which was hit by floods till this month, 166 people lost their lives and 1.96 lakh took shelter in 282 relief camps, following the deluge that hit as many as 28 districts. A total of 189 people were killed, 39 injured and seven went missing in Madhya Pradesh, where 32,996 people took shelter in the 98 relief camps set up in 38 districts.
In Kerala, heavy rains and floods claimed 181 lives and injured 72. Fifteen people were reported missing in 13 districts. As many as 4.46 lakh people took shelter in 2,227 relief camps in the southern state. Twenty-two districts in Gujarat were hit by rains and floods, which claimed 192 lives, injured 17, while 17,783 people were forced to take shelter in 102 relief camps.
Lightning kills two
Two people were killed in rain-related incidents in Bankura district of West Bengal as heavy rain continued to lash the state. The MeT forecast more downpour due to a low pressure in southern Odisha and Bay of Bengal.