As the nation grapples with natural calamities, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday issued a notification designating various ministries and departments to effectively handle disasters. The order was issued with the objective of monitoring, early warning, prevention, mitigation and preparedness to ensure zero or minimum inconvenience and casualties due to the disasters.
Under the notification SO 4253(E), the Central Government has designated specific ministries to handle disasters arising from multiple hazards, collaborating with relevant agencies and stakeholders as outlined in Section 36 of the Act.
Giving details, the notification while avalanche, oil spills will be handled by Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Earth Sciences will provide early warning for the cold wave, cyclone, tornado, earthquake, heat wave, lightning, tsunami, hail storms and heavy rainfall. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will take care biological disasters.
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has been given responsibility for frost and cold wave, drought, hailstorm and pest attack, the Ministry of Jal Shakti will handle floods, glacial lake outburst flood and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will take care urban floods (excluding early warning).
Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has been given the responsibility for forest fire, industrial and chemical disasters, the Ministry of Mines will handle landslides and the Department of Atomic Energy will take care nuclear and radiological emergencies.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) read with clause (ha) of sub-section (2) of section 35 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (53 of 2005), the Central Government hereby notifies... The Ministries or Department of the Government of India... Which shall have the responsibility for monitoring, early warning, prevention, mitigation, preparedness and capacity building with regard to disaster arising from various hazards...,” the notification said.
The notification formalises a coordinated disaster management framework across India, ensuring that ministries are accountable for monitoring, early warning and mitigation measures specific to various natural and man-made hazards. The notification, signed by Joint Secretary Dr Rajesh Gupta, formalises a coordinated disaster management framework across India, ensuring that ministries are accountable for monitoring, early warning and mitigation measures specific to various natural and man-made hazards.
According to MHA report, in 2025-26 (as of July 30), over 1,600 people and about 52,000 people were killed in hydro-meteorological disasters. Andhra Pradesh had the largest share of casualties with 343 fatalities, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 243 fatalities, and Himachal Pradesh with 195 fatalities. According to statistics from the Disaster Management Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs, 834 lost their lives in natural calamities in 2001-02. The figure increased to 1,995 in 2004-05, and reached more than 2,500 the following year, a growth of 35 per cent. Deaths exceeded 3,700 by 2007-08.
In subsequent years, the number of human lives lost remained between 900 and 2,000 per year, before a sudden spike in 2013-14, when the deaths numbered 5,677, five times more than the previous year. This was because of a cloudburst in Uttarakhand in June 2013, which caused floods and landslides, mainly in the Kedarnath region. The numbers went up in 2023-24 with 2,616 fatalities, a nearly 65 per cent increase, and then 3,080 fatalities in 2024-25, an 18 per cent increase. Disasters have also resulted in cattle deaths. In 2005-06, over 1.1 lakh cattle were lost, and the figure climbed rapidly during 2006-07 to 4.5 lakh, the maximum reported between 2001-02 and 2024-25. About 1.19 lakh cattle were lost in 2023-24 and approximately 62,000 in 2024-25.
India faced extreme weather events on 322 days in 2024, resulting in over 3,400 deaths. In the first 90 days of 2025 alone, the country experienced extreme events such as floods and heat waves on 87 days. This alarming trend indicates the need for efficient disaster risk management to minimise impact on vulnerable populations.
According to a report by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), India recorded 32.3 million (3.23 crore) internal displacements due to disasters, such as floods and storms, between 2015 and 2024, the third highest in the world after China and the Philippines.