NEW DELHI: Most of us will remember the year 2020 for the coronavirus pandemic. However, while the pandemic brought our human lives to a standstill, nature could not be reigned in.
India, amidst the raging pandemic, survived cyclones, floods, rains, biblical plagues and industrial disasters.
As we enter the new year, here is a list of disasters India endured:
1 Cyclone Nisarga
In June, Cyclone Nisarga struck the Western coast of the country making landfall in Maharashtra.
At least six were reported dead with more than 12,440 acres of land left severely damaged.
Originating in the Arabian Sea, Nisarga was the second cyclone to strike the Indian subcontinent within two weeks of Cyclone Amphan.
With a wind speed of 110 km/h, Nisarga became the strongest storm to strike the state in the month of June since 1891.
State government estimated the damage caused by Nisarga at over Rs 6,000 crore The cost of recovery was estimated at around Rs 1,100 crore.
2 Locust attack
Between 2019 and 2020, India witnessed one of its worst locust attacks in decades.
Outbreaks of the insect attack were reported from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
The locusts entered India from Iran and Pakistan. In 2020, the first swarms were spotted in January in Gujarat's Banaskantha district, which shares a border with Pakistan's desert areas.
In May, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh were severely affected by locust swarms measuring a kilometer wide, the worst locust attack in 27 years.
In June, millions of locusts swarmed on a massive scale in Gurgaon, Delhi-NCR region, making it look like a sand storm.
The locust plague originated in East Africa in 2019 and affected as many as 23 countries through April 2020.
When periods of heavy rainfall follow periods of relative drought, solitary desert locusts emerge to feed on new-growth foliage and lay eggs in the newly moist soil, which prevents them from drying out and enabling their population growth.
3 Cyclone Nivar
In late November, Cyclone Nivar struck southern India with severe impact in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh while rains were also reported in Sri Lanka.
Nivar made its landfall over Tamil Nadu between Puducherry and Chennai close to Mahabalipuram.
Eight people were reported dead in Andhra Pradesh.
As many as 1,12,000 people were affected, 2,294 houses/huts were damaged and 6,133 homes were left stranded.
In Andhra Pradesh, the administration estimated a loss of over Rs 500 crore.
In Tamil Nadu, more than 1 lakh people were evacuated and were sheltered in 1,000 relief centres.
In Puducherry, state administration estimated initial loss in agriculture and other sectors at Rs 400 crore.
Overall, Nivar caused damages worth more than Rs 4,000 crore.
4 Cyclone Burevi
In December, Cyclone Burevi made landfall in Sri Lanka before heading to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.
The cyclone caused at least 11deaths and five people were reported missing. Crop damage was also reported in several areas.
5 Kerala floods
In August, Kerala recorded heavy rainfall in the monsoon season resulting in at least 22 casualties.
This was the third consecutive year where Kerala reeled under floods.
A red alert was issued in three districts of Wayanad, Kozhikode and Idukki while an orange alert was issued in five other districts.
The flood also led to a plane crash in which 18 people were reported dead. The Air India Express Flight 1344 had crashed due to the flooding of the Calicut airport runway and bad visibility.
The state authorities estimated the loss to property, livestock and agriculture at Rs 19,000 crore.
6 Assam floods
Heavy rainfall and flooding of the Brahmaputra river in May came at a heavy cost for Assam with casualties and widespread destruction of property and agriculture.
The floods in Assam this year affected more than 50 lakh people, as per reports. As many as 123 people lost their lives in the floods while 26 died due to landslides.
More than 1.5 lakh people had to seek refuge in camps as residents in 5,474 villages suffered flooding.
The flooding began just before harvest season and caused destruction to more than 267,203 hectares of crops and more than 45,000 domesticated animals were either forced to flee or were abandoned.
While Northeast India is known for receiving heavy rainfall, in the past few years flooding has gotten severe. Though the rainfall in the region has declined, the number of extreme rainfall events has increased leading to annual flooding.
7 Hyderabad floods
In October, the Southwestern coast received heavy rainfall due to a deep depression in North Indian Ocean affecting several states and UTs like Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Hyderabad experienced 32 cm of record-breaking torrential rain creating flash floods.
Rainfall reached over 110 millimetres in parts of Hyderabad, with heavier rainfall amounts outside of the city.
The flash floods led to casualties across states.
At least two deaths were reported in Vijayawada, 50 people died in different parts of Telangana, including 19 in Hyderabad. In Maharashtra, 27 people were reported dead.
Telangana administration estimated damages to cost Rs 5,000 crore. A few days later, a second cyclone killed two more people in Hyderabad affecting more than 37,000 families.
8 Oil and gas leak in Assam
In May, one of the wells at Oil India Limited's (OIL) Baghjan Oilfield in Tinsukia district, Assam, started leaking resulting in a blowout. The subsequent fire that started mid of 2020 was reported to be still burning till November.
The 2020 Assam oil and gas leak, which is also referred to as the Baghjan gas leak, started when the Well number 5 at OIL started leaking natural gas and a few days later the Well caught fire.
The oil and gas leak resulted in two deaths, large-scale local evacuations, and environmental damage to the nearby Dibru-Saikhowa National Park.
In January, Centre had exempted all oil and gas firms conducting exploratory drilling from legal requirements for environmental clearances.
Prior to the leak, in 2020, the region had also witnessed protests after the Central government authorized OIL to explore the area under Dibru-Saikhowa National Park for hydrocarbons.