NEW DELHI: After China (577) and the United States of America (467), India (321) ranked third on the list of countries recording the highest number of natural disasters in the last 20 years. According to a report by the United Nation Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the economic losses due to the disasters are estimated at $3 trillion in the last two decades.
Findings of the study state that such disasters have caused the loss of lives of around 1.2 million people and have affected around 4 billion. Natural disasters have also caused economic losses of almost $2.9 trillion. The study states that extreme weather events such as floods, storms, droughts, etc. contribute almost 91 per cent of total 7,348 natural disaster occurrences in the last two decades.
Mami Mizutori, Head, UNDRR, said that based on the data, the only conclusion is that we are wilfully destructive. He added that COVID-19 is the latest and biggest proof that political and business leaders are yet to achieve a lot in making their countries disaster resilient.