Lok Sabha Question No. 3933 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-19
Subject: Extreme Weather Conditions
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Shashi Tharoor

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3933 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2021

## EXTREME WEATHER CONITIONS

## 3933.   DR. SHASHI THAROOR :

## Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has maintained a comprehensive report of the extreme weather conditions observed  within  the country  over  the past year,  including  extreme temperatures and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether there has been an increase in these extreme weather conditions over the past year and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has used this  information to enhance preparedness  for the same in future and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government is aware that India is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and extreme weather events as per several reports, and suffers among the countries with highest deaths and economic losses due to the same and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  is  working  in  conjunction  with  any  other  countries  and international  organisations  on  specific  ways  to  deal  with  such  events  and  if  so,  the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

- (a)-(b) Yes Sir. India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued 'Statement of Climate of India during 2020' on 4 th January 2021. The report contains the details of extreme weather events  observed  within  the  country  during  2020  including  extreme  temperatures.  The detailed report is given in Annexure I . The highlights of the report are as follows:

Heat wave conditions : Heat wave conditions were rather moderate during the season.

-  13 and 14 April  : Over isolated pockets of Gujarat State
-  On 21 May  : Over Saurashtra & Kutch and west Rajasthan.
-  During 22-29 May : On most of the days in Rajasthan, Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh, on many days in Haryana, Chandigarh, & Delhi, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, on a few days

in Gujarat, Marathwada and on isolated days in Madhya Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and coastal Andhra Pradesh.

-  During  25-28  May    :  Severe  heat  wave  conditions  were  also  observed  in  isolated pockets of west Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi & East Uttar Pradesh and in some parts of Rajasthan.
-  During 15-18 June : Heat wave conditions prevailed over some parts of West Rajasthan, which was severe at one or two places on 16 June.

## Cold Wave conditions :

-  In the month of January, cold wave conditions prevailed over parts of Saurashtra & Kutch, Haryana, Chandigarh &  Delhi, Jammu  &  Kashmir,  Jharkhand,  Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, east and west Rajasthan and West Uttar Pradesh on isolated days.
-  In the month of February, cold wave conditions prevailed during the first fortnight (113 February) of the month over parts of Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi and Punjab on many days and over parts of Uttarakhand, Odisha, East and West Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand on few days. During the above period, severe cold wave conditions prevailed on one day each in Punjab and Odisha.
-  Cold day conditions at many places with severe cold day conditions at isolated places occurred over Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh during 15-18 and 29-31 December and over East Uttar Pradesh during 19-22 December. The cold day conditions at isolated places occurred over Bihar during 19-23 December over north Madhya Pradesh during 19-20 and 29-31 December.

## Extreme Rainfall :

-  Episodes of  heavy to very heavy and extremely heavy rainfall events occurred over different parts of the country during the monsoon season of 2020. Due to these events parts  of  Himachal  Pradesh,  Maharashtra,  Kerala,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Assam,  Bihar  and Telangana suffered flooding.
- (c) The details of extreme weather events are shared with public, state governments and also NDMA for preparing for proper disaster management efforts.
- (d) Yes Sir. India is one of the most vulnerable country for the extreme weather events. The German watch Global Climate Risk Index (CRI) is an analysis based on one of the most reliable data sets available on the impacts of extreme weather events and associated socioeconomic data.. The index calculated for any given year is based on the extreme weather events such as storms, floods and heat waves occurred in that year. The ranking of India based on CRI since 2010 is given in the table below. From the table it is observed that India is ranked within 20 during most of the years.

| Table-1 Climate Risk Index Rank (India) Since 2010   | Table-1 Climate Risk Index Rank (India) Since 2010   | Table-1 Climate Risk Index Rank (India) Since 2010   | Table-1 Climate Risk Index Rank (India) Since 2010   |
|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| Year                                                 | Year Rank                                            | Period                                               | 20 Year Rank                                         |
| 2010                                                 | 31                                                   | 1991-2010                                            | 20                                                   |
| 2011                                                 | 17                                                   | 1992-2011                                            | 22                                                   |
| 2012                                                 | 46                                                   | 1993-2012                                            | 18                                                   |
| 2013                                                 | 3                                                    | 1994-2013                                            | 17                                                   |
| 2014                                                 | 10                                                   | 1995-2014                                            | 16                                                   |
| 2015                                                 | 4                                                    | 1996-2015                                            | 14                                                   |
| 2016                                                 | 6                                                    | 1997-2016                                            | 12                                                   |
| 2017                                                 | 14                                                   | 1998-2017                                            | 14                                                   |
| 2018                                                 | 5                                                    | 1999-2018                                            | 17                                                   |
| 2019                                                 | 7                                                    | 2000-2019                                            | 20                                                   |

It is also observed that extreme events are all showing increasing trends in recent decades in line with other parts of the globe which is mainly attributed to climate change.   As per the climate change projections made by IPCC, there is high probability for these extreme events to increase in coming years. The country already has a robust early warning and response system for extreme weather and climate events based on scientifically generated weather and climate information.

The number of people who died in the extreme weather events for the year 2019 and 2020 are given  in  the Appendix II & III respectively.  As  compared to 2019 the  loss of  life  due  to extreme weather events are less in the year 2020.

- (e) The details of collaboration in various fields and the MoU signed by Govt. of India with other countries and foreign government agencies are as follow;
1. The MoU for Scientific and Technical Cooperation between Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, State of Qatar and MoES, Govt. of India .

## Targeted milestones (next 2 to 3 years)

Capacity  building  activities  related  to  the  seamless  coordination  of  disaster  management activities with an effective, efficient and with comprehensive plans of public understanding and preparedness.

2. The MoU for Technical Cooperation in Earth Observations and Earth Sciences between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA and MoES.

There are 5 active implementation agreements and IMD is responsible for Tropical cyclone activity part.

## Targeted milestones (next 2 to 3 years):

-  Customization  of  Hurricane  Weather  Forecast  (HWRF)  model  of  NOAA  has  been customized and implementation of real time tropical cyclone forecast (Track, intensity, wind & Rainfall).
-  Customization of tailor made real time weather forecast  products of extreme rainfall and impact based forecast

## 3. Cooperation with World Meteorological  organisation :

##  South Asia Flash Flood Guidance System (SAsiaFFGS)

## Targeted milestones (next 2 to 3 years)

Collaboration  with  WMO  has  helped  in  technology  transfer  from  Hydrologic  Research Centre (HRC), USA to India for South Asia Flash Flood Guidance System commencing from monsoon season 2020 and will continue further.

It helped to issue impact based forecast and risk based warning during monsoonal flood situations like heavy rainfall over Mumbai, Heavy rainfall over Dwarka and Heavy rainfall over Bhopal as few examples.

##  Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC)

## Targeted milestones (next 2 to 3 years)

Collaboration helped India to demonstrate as a Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC)  for  tropical  cyclone (one  of  the  sixth  centre  in  the  World) in  providing leadership in the region. The collaboration helped in exchange of meteorological data from Bay of Bengal (BoB) and Arabian Sea countries to IMD and hence improved monitoring and forecast.

##  WMO Severe Weather Forecast Demonstration Programme (SWFP): Targeted milestones (next 2 to 3 years)

This  collaboration  in  coming  2  to  3  years  will  further  support  India  to  recognise  as  a regional  leader  to  provide  severe  weather  guidance  to  the  member  countries  India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka and Maldives). In return,  India  got  access  to  high  resolution  NWP  model  and  location  specific  forecast products from European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), National

Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), UK  Met Office (UKMO), Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Korean Meteorological Agency (KMA), China Meteorological  Administration  (CMA).  Also  satellite  based  nowcast  (very  short  range forecast of convective activity like thunderstorm rainfall) was made available for use in the region. This 5 day forecast will help the government in policy and planning.

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## Appendix II

| *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   | *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   | *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   | *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   | *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   | *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   | *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   | *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   | *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   | *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   | *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   | *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   | *Number of death due to extreme weather events in the year 2019   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| State                                                             | COLD WAVE                                                         | CYCLONIC STORM                                                    | DUST STORM                                                        | FLOODS & HEAVY RAINS                                              | GALE                                                              | HAIL STORM                                                        | HEAT WAVE                                                         | LIGHTNING                                                         | SNOW FALL                                                         | SQUALL                                                            | THUNDER STORM                                                     | Grand Total                                                       |
| Andhra Pradesh                                                    |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 45                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 45                                                                |
| Assam                                                             |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 94                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 15                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   | 11                                                                | 120                                                               |
| Bihar                                                             | 19                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   | 306                                                               |                                                                   |                                                                   | 293                                                               |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 72                                                                | 690                                                               |
| Chhattisgarh                                                      |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 4                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 2                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   | 17                                                                | 23                                                                |
| Goa                                                               |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 1                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 1                                                                 |
| Gujarat                                                           |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 27                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 10                                                                | 37                                                                |
| Himachal Pradesh                                                  |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 26                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 8                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   | 34                                                                |
| Jammu & Kashmir                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 22                                                                |                                                                   | 0                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   | 57                                                                |                                                                   | 3                                                                 | 82                                                                |
| Jharkhand                                                         | 13                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   | 5                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   | 13                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   | 2                                                                 | 126                                                               | 159                                                               |
| Karnataka                                                         |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 30                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 21                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   | 8                                                                 | 59                                                                |
| Kerala                                                            |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 106                                                               | 1                                                                 |                                                                   | 13                                                                | 3                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 123                                                               |
| Madhya Pradesh                                                    | 12                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   | 21                                                                |                                                                   | 2                                                                 |                                                                   | 30                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 65                                                                |
| Maharashtra                                                       | 7                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   | 169                                                               |                                                                   |                                                                   | 53                                                                | 64                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   | 2                                                                 | 295                                                               |
| Manipur                                                           |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 3                                                                 | 3                                                                 |
| Odisha                                                            |                                                                   | 64                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 24                                                                |                                                                   | 1                                                                 |                                                                   | 89                                                                |
| Rajasthan                                                         |                                                                   |                                                                   | 25                                                                | 82                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   | 3                                                                 | 5                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   | 15                                                                | 130                                                               |
| Sikkim                                                            |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 1                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 1                                                                 |
| Tamil Nadu                                                        |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 18                                                                | 1                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 19                                                                |
| Telangana                                                         |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 10                                                                | 2                                                                 |                                                                   | 66                                                                | 7                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 85                                                                |
| Tripura                                                           |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 1                                                                 | 1                                                                 |
| Uttar Pradesh                                                     | 240                                                               |                                                                   |                                                                   | 32                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   | 9                                                                 | 26                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   | 64                                                                | 371                                                               |
| Uttarakhand                                                       |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 39                                                                |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 39                                                                |
| West Bengal                                                       |                                                                   | 7                                                                 |                                                                   | 3                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   |                                                                   | 5                                                                 |                                                                   |                                                                   | 17                                                                | 32                                                                |
| Grand Total                                                       | 291                                                               | 71                                                                | 25                                                                | 996                                                               | 4                                                                 | 2                                                                 | 495                                                               | 202                                                               | 65                                                                | 3                                                                 | 349                                                               | 2503                                                              |

## Appendix III

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| * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   | * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   | * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   | * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   | * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   | * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   | * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   | * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   | * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   | * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   | * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   | * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   | * Number of deaths due to extreme weather events in the year 2020   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| State                                                               | COL D WAV E                                                         | CYCLONI C STORM                                                     | DUST STOR M                                                         | FLOO DS & HEAV Y RAINS                                              | GAL E                                                               | HAIL STOR M                                                         | HEA T WAV E                                                         | LIGHTNIN G                                                          | SNOWFA LL                                                           | SQUAL L                                                             | THUNDE R STORM                                                      | Gran d Total                                                        |
| Andhra Pradesh                                                      |                                                                     | 9                                                                   |                                                                     | 21                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 20                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 50                                                                  |
| Arunachal Pradesh                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 11                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 11                                                                  |
| Assam                                                               |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 129                                                                 |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 129                                                                 |
| Bihar                                                               | 45                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     | 54                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     | 2                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 280                                                                 | 381                                                                 |
| Gujarat                                                             |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 29                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 8                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 37                                                                  |
| Harayana                                                            |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 1                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 1                                                                   |
| Himachal Pradesh                                                    |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 38                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 4                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     | 42                                                                  |
| Jammu & Kashmir                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 13                                                                  | 3                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     | 5                                                                   | 17                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     | 38                                                                  |
| Jharkhand                                                           | 16                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     | 4                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 5                                                                   |                                                                     | 6                                                                   | 122                                                                 | 153                                                                 |
| Karnataka                                                           |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 16                                                                  | 1                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     | 12                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 29                                                                  |
| Kerala                                                              |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 72                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 2                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 74                                                                  |
| Madhya Pradesh                                                      |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 10                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 72                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     | 7                                                                   | 89                                                                  |
| Maharashtr a                                                        |                                                                     | 4                                                                   |                                                                     | 50                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 23                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     | 1                                                                   | 78                                                                  |
| Meghalaya                                                           |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 6                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 6                                                                   |
| Odisha                                                              |                                                                     | 4                                                                   |                                                                     | 16                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 16                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 36                                                                  |
| Rajasthan                                                           | 2                                                                   |                                                                     | 14                                                                  | 18                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 3                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 37                                                                  |
| Sikkim                                                              |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 5                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 1                                                                   |                                                                     | 1                                                                   | 7                                                                   |
| Tamil Nadu                                                          |                                                                     | 12                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 9                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 21                                                                  |
| Telangana                                                           |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 61                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 6                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 67                                                                  |
| New Delhi (UT)                                                      |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 1                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 1                                                                   |
| Uttar Pradesh                                                       | 88                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     | 48                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 53                                                                  |                                                                     |                                                                     | 167                                                                 | 356                                                                 |
| Uttarakhan d                                                        | 1                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     | 4                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 5                                                                   |
| West Bengal                                                         |                                                                     | 86                                                                  |                                                                     | 3                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 3                                                                   |                                                                     |                                                                     |                                                                     | 92                                                                  |
| Grand Total                                                         | 152                                                                 | 115                                                                 | 14                                                                  | 610                                                                 | 4                                                                   |                                                                     | 2                                                                   | 237                                                                 | 22                                                                  | 6                                                                   | 578                                                                 | 174 0                                                               |

*(The number of deaths reported due to extreme weather events in Appendix-II & III are based on media reports only)

*****