Over 1000 people killed in north India this monsoon

Over 1000 people were reported to have lost their lives in north India due to natural calamities during monsoon this year, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

"As per the information received from the state governments of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, a total of 1,064 human lives are reported to have been lost due to natural calamities including heavy rain and floods during monsoon this year," minister of state for water resources Vincent H Pala stated in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha .

He was asked about the number of persons who lost their lives due to over flowing of rivers in North India during monsoon this year.

When asked about the relief and rehabilitation measures taken by the government, Pala said in the event of natural disaster, the responsibility for undertaking rescue and relief operation measures rests with the state governments concerned.

Centre supplements the efforts of the state governments by providing appropriate financial and logistic support, he added.

"For this purpose, a state disaster response fund (SDRF) has been constituted for each state with certain allocated amount based on the recommendations of Finance Commission," Pala informed the Upper House.

In case of calamities of severe nature, SDRF is supplemented by the national disaster response fund (NDRF) "in accordance with the laid down procedure".