‘₹14K-cr paid to extreme weather events’ victims in 2 yrs’
MUMBAI: Since 2019, Maharashtra has paid at least ₹14,000 crore – about 18% of the state’s fiscal deficit for financial year (FY) 2020-21 – as direct compensation to those affected by extreme weather events. This figure was brought out in a presentation made to the cabinet on Wednesday by the environment department to highlight concerns raised in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) sixth assessment report released last month.
The number is, however, a gross underestimation of the total cost of recent climate disasters in the state, officials and experts pointed out. A government official privy to the development, on the condition of anonymity, said, “The numbers presented to the state cabinet are an overview of the most prominent disasters since 2019, such as Cyclones Kyarr, Nisarga and Tauktae, last year’s floods in Vidarbha and the recent Konkan floods. An amount of ₹14,000 crore was the outlay in compensation that was directly paid toward the rehabilitation of affected persons. The real cost of the disasters is of course much higher because a lot of money has to also be allocated toward infrastructure repairs.”
Last year alone, Maharashtra paid about ₹5,500 crore as compensation for extreme weather events, data obtained from the disaster management authority and the environment and the climate change department revealed. Most of this amount was disbursed to farmers for agricultural damages.
But Maharashtra’s total cost incurred due to climate disasters for 2020 alone comes to a total of ₹13,000 crore, which includes at least another ₹4,000 crore spent toward fixing damages, along with ex gratia payments made to victims of heat waves, cold waves and lightning strikes.
This year, the state has paid at least ₹227 crore directly to the victims of Cyclone Tauktae and Konkan floods, but the total cost of climate disasters in 2021 is likely to be in excess of ₹11,500 crore (which is the strength of the relief package announced by the Maharashtra on August 2).
“The cost of our inaction will only increase unless we first learn to adapt to these emerging trends of extreme weather,” said Dr Anjal Prakash, research director at the Indian School of Business (ISB), and a lead author of the ongoing 6th Assessment Report of IPCC (where he is involved in the chapter on cities, settlements and key infrastructure).