About halfway through its course, India’s annual rainfall season has taken its usual toll on the country’s people and resources.
Floods caused by the monsoon bring death and destruction year after year, and this time is turning out to be not very different. So far, rains have affected large swathes in Assam and Bihar states, as well as parts of Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
At the same time, due to the monsoon’s uneven distribution, a few regions of the country are facing deficient rainfall and water shortages.
Here are 10 numbers that show the intensity of the devastation caused by the floods, still far from over:
209 dead
…due to flooding in Assam and Bihar, the two worst-hit states so far. Rain-related incidents such as wall collapses have additionally killed at least 57 people in Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
10.4 million displaced
…in Assam and Bihar where 250,000 people are now staying in relief camps. About 4.3 million of those affected are children, according to the UN.
14,000 moved
…by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) during the evacuation of flooded areas. The official responders have also given medical assistance to over 6,000 people so far.
18 teams
…of the NDRF had been deployed across the flood-hit states till July 24. Each team has 45 members, including medical professionals and other specialists.
1,050 passengers
…including nine pregnant women were aboard the Mahalaxmi Express train which got stranded in Maharashtra due to the flooding of the rail tracks. It took the authorities 17 hours to evacuate all the coaches.
409 prisoners
…all inmates of a flooded jail in Assam’s Dhubri district had to be moved to the district girls’ college, which was turned into a makeshift detention centre.
800 livestock animals
…have been given medical help by NDRF teams, while 130 livestock animals have been moved during the evacuation of inundated areas.
200 wild animals
…at Assam’s Kaziranga National Park have drowned. Among the dead are 111 hog deer, 18 wild boars, 17 rhinoceros, 12 sambar deer, seven swamp deer, three porcupines, two water buffaloes, and one elephant.
90,563 acres
…or nearly 37,000 hectares of crops were damaged in a single day’s downpour in Punjab. Water-logging caused by drain blockages not only harms the standing crop but also prevents farmers from planting any new seeds.
56% land area
…of the country has received less than normal rainfall so far this season. Despite deluge in some parts, rains remain a much-awaited relief in other regions of India’s vast geography.