Mass dislocations caused by extreme weather events remain a cause of alarm in India. Still, owing to improved warning systems and disaster management capabilities, the scale of displacement has declined substantially in the country over the years
India witnessed over half a million instances, forcing people to abandon their homes and move to safer areas due to floods, storms, earthquakes, and other disasters in 2023. Alarming as these figures are, they marked a significant decrease from the approximately 2.5 million such instances in 2022, as reported by a global study released recently.
The report from the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) stated that approximately 27,000 displacements occurred in the national capital. On July 9, Delhi experienced 153 mm of rainfall within 24 hours, marking the highest single-day rain since July 25, 1982. Overall, South Asia reported about 3.7 million internal displacements in 2023, with 3.6 million caused by disasters, the lowest figure since 2018.
In India, the number of flood displacements, at 352,000, was the lowest since 2008. This decline is attributable to several factors, including improved disaster management strategies, early warning systems, and community resilience. The largest event triggered around 91,000 displacements in Assam in June, affecting 20 districts.
Cyclone Biparjoy, which formed in the Arabian Sea in early June, led to widespread flooding across Gujarat and Rajasthan, causing 105,000 displacements as it moved inland. Cyclone Mocha, the largest disaster displacement event of 2023 in South Asia, triggered 1.3 million displacements in Bangladesh, mainly in Cox's Bazar district.
Thanks to the effectiveness of forecasting and early warnings, authorities were able to implement emergency procedures before Mocha's landfall, enabling pre-emptive evacuations from densely populated areas. This proactive approach significantly reduced the potential impact of the disaster.
The IDMC mentioned that South Asia's cyclone season in 2023 was less intense than in previous years due to El Nino, but storms still resulted in 1.8 million movements, approximately half of the region's disaster displacements. Government-led pre-emptive evacuations accounted for at least three-quarters of this figure.
According to the report, disasters caused 26.4 million displacements in 2023, the third-highest annual total in the last 10 years. Alexandra Bilak, the director of IDMC, stated that no country is immune to disaster displacement.
Extreme weather events such as floods and heatwaves are becoming more frequent. A 2022 report by dedicated researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, projected a manifold increase in such events in India's future due to climate change. This research underscores the urgent need for action to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases has heightened atmospheric instability, leading to increased convective activity, thunderstorms, lightning, and heavy rain events. Meteorologists have noted that cyclonic storms are intensifying rapidly and retaining their intensity for longer durations due to global warming.