In the past ten years alone hundreds of thousands of people have perished in earthquakes, floods, cyclones, droughts in the region which spans India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. No country in the region is exempt from natural disasters. The entire Indian subcontinent is vulnerable to earthquakes. The worst quakes in the past decade occurred in Latur, Maharashtra, the Garhwal region of Uttar Pradesh and now Gujarat. The eastern coast of India particularly the coast of Orissa and Bangladesh are regularly battered by cyclones.
Droughts alter with floods to take a huge toll of human lives.
The new millenium has opened with the specter of famine hovering above most of the countries in the region. This year will see large-scale migration to cities as food and water stocks reach a record low in most of these countries. The first of the mass movement of people has already been reported from Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of refugees from this beleaguered nation have moved into Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. More are at the borders awaiting the first opportunity to get in.