1993 India floods
The
1993 India floods
[1]
was a deadly flood caused by several days long heavy
monsoon
rains and
severe weather
that occurred in July 1993 across eight states in the north of the country. Severe floods left 530 fatalities and millions people went homeless, including from
Haryana
.
Punjab
with 350 deaths was the most affected state where "1.2 million acres of crops" were extensively damaged, mostly from
Patiala
, north-western region of the state.
Flash floods
swept away major railway tracks, roads, and bridges, leading to disrupt the communications between the
northeastern states
and the rest of the country. Initial reports cited one hundred deaths in
Gujarat
.
It is believed floods swept away more than one hundred cattle from the affected areas.
Ajnala town
of
Amritsar district
in Punjab also suffered a heavy loss where floods washed away a large number of the villages.
[2]
[3]
Background
[
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]
Heavy floods caused by monsoon rains during the months of
June and July
leaves several fatalities with millions of worth property damage. However, rainwater is recognized one of the
main sources
of
irrigation
in the country as it provides water to
agricultural crops
like other countries.
[4]
[2]
On 7 July 1993, heavy monsoon caused flash floods and landslides, leading to extensive damage to human lives, crops, livestock, and housing across the seven to eight states in India such as
West Bengal
, Punjab,
Haryana
,
Bihar
,
Assam
,
Himachal Pradesh
, and Gujarat. It also disrupted the communications and affected 10 million people alone in Punjab state.
[5]
[2]
The floods originated from the
Ravi
,
Beas
,
Satluj
, Ghaghhar, Yamuna, Jhelum,
Brahmaputra
,
Sabarmati
, Subarnarekha,
Kharkai
, and other major rivers that brought devastating floods across the states and subsequently submerged thousands of villages.
[6]
Emergency response
[
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]
The
state governments
as well as
union government
mobilised more than 5,000
army personnel
in
rescue operations
to combat the disaster by evacuating people from 1,500 affected villages. Army along with police and NGOs were actively involved in relief dispatch,
technical rescue
as well as in
emergency medical services
. Government also mobilised
air force
in an effort to airdrop food, medicine and blankets to the flood victims.
[5]
Aftermath
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Extreme volume of water in several rivers caused floods killing more than 530 people and damaged crops, including rice,
maize
and other plant species across the states. Bihar state also suffered a heavy loss where floods evacuated thousands of people, including 2.35 million people from Assam state while 250 villages came under floods and 1.6 million people went homeless. The state's three trains with 250 passengers also came under floods who were subsequently rescued by the multiple
military units
. Punjab's 247,000 acres of crops were extensively damaged.
[7]
In Patiala district, 125,000 people were sheltered in 200 relief camps. Most of its colonies were extensively affected with 10 to 15 feet of water, while 4,000 villages of Punjab sank in flash floods. Initial reports cited 500,000 hectares of
agricultural land
damage along with crops property worth
?
600
crore
(60 million) in Punjab state.
[3]
West Bengal also suffered a heavy loss where 1 million people went homeless.
[2]
The southern and southeastern portion of the
Kashmir
region
Jammu and Kashmir
suffered twenty fatalities.
[5]
References
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