The government declared that India, after directing its rescue and relief efforts in quake-struck Nepal, has emerged as a leading nation in disaster response. According to the minister for state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju said technology was extensively used by the country to respond to natural calamities. He also said the 10,000- strong National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was ready to meet any situation round the clock in India where 58.6% of the land is prone to earthquake, 8.5% vulnerable to cyclone and 5% to floods.
On the estimate of economic losses from disasters in India, he said the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s Global Assessment Report for 2015 while listing the risk profile for India estimates that average annual loss from multi-hazard disasters in India is approximately $9.8 billion per year. The minister, however, added that these figures are not vetted by the government. He said that damage and losses due to natural disasters are assessed by state governments.
