MHA says 258 people killed in Andhra, 171 in Himachal in rain-related incidents:

Madhya Pradesh recorded 148 deaths this monsoon, followdd by Bihar with 101, highlighting the widespread impact of severe weather across multiple states.

Andhra Pradesh recorded the highest number of fatalities due to intense monsoon rains and subsequent floods between April 1 and July 16 this year, with 258 deaths, the Union ministry of home affairs informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Himachal Pradesh reported 171 deaths in the same period, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 148, and Bihar with 101, highlighting the widespread impact of severe weather across multiple states this season.

Debris and silt near damaged houses at a flood-affected area in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh on July 6. (PTI)

Himachal Pradesh also recorded a loss of 23,818 cattle and 1,528 homes. Madhya Pradesh reported 325 cattle deaths, while 986 homes were lost in the state due to rains. Assam recorded the maximum damage to cropland, across 29714.89 ha.

“An inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) has been constituted for Himachal Pradesh, without waiting for the memorandum, to visit the affected areas of the State for assessment of damages caused by the flash flood/ floods, cloudburst and landslides,” the MHA said.

Minister of state for home, Nityanand Rai, revealed the data while responding to questions by BJP MPs Sudheer Gupta, Manish Jaiswal, Shiv Sena MPs Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane and Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan Patil on: 1. whether some parts of the country that witnessed early and intense monsoon rainfall had heavy loss of property and human life; 2. the total human casualties and property losses due to intense monsoon rain across various States in the country; 3. whether the Government has constituted any central team to visit the affected States/areas and assess the losses and if so, the details thereof among others.

“Due to highly favourable synoptic systems and monsoonal winds, central and western parts of India, including Gujarat and Rajasthan, have regularly experienced heavy rainfall spells, leading to excess to large excess rainfall over these areas, due to which early flood incidents have also been reported,” the ministry said in the written response, adding that the ministry does not centrally maintain the data of damages from disasters.

Further, during the current financial year (as on 15 July 2025), the central government released financial aid of ₹9578.40 crore to 22 states under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), the ministry said.

“The financial assistance under SDRF/ National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) in the wake of natural disasters is by way of relief and not for compensation of loss as suffered/ claimed. As per the National Policy on Disaster Management (NPDM), the primary responsibility for disaster management, including disbursal of relief assistance on ground level, rests with the state governments concerned. However, financial assistance to notified calamities, including landslides and floods, is provided from SDRF/ NDRF as per established procedure. The concerned state government is required to undertake necessary relief measures in the landslides affected areas out of the SDRF, already placed with the state government, as per Government of India norms,” the MHA response stated.