Estimates

Displacement caused by seasonalfloods and cyclone Hudhud in IndiaNorthern and eastern India suffered anumber of large-scale disasters causedby exceptionally heavy rains and riverinefloods in 2014. In September, the worstfloods to hit Jammu and Kashmir in 50years displaced around 812,000 peoplein urban areas of the state. Across thecontested line of control with Pakistan,hundreds of thousands more were displacedin Azad Kashmir.India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi,declared the disaster a national level crisis,but the government refused humanitarianaccess to the UN and internationalorganisations other than the InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross. 39 Whenfloods brought further widespread destructionto Jammu and Kashmir in Marchand April 2015, many people were still toreceive the compensation promised bythe government for losses they had incurredthe previous September. 40In Assam, the fourth poorest statein the country, 41 floods in July were followedby worse flooding in Septemberand October, which also affected theneighbouring state of Meghalaya. Some367,000 people were displaced. Despitethe regular occurrence of floods in thisregion, few long-term measures havebeen put in place to mitigate flooding inthe Brahmaputra river basin. 42 The Inter-Agency Group of humanitarian NGOs inAssam also noted a relative lack of mediareporting on the situation in Assam andMeghalaya, describing it as “a disaster ofthe poor” and comparing it with Jammuand Kashmir’s “disaster of the middleclass”.43Further south in the state of Odisha,floodwaters engulfed vast areas of theMahanadi river delta in July 2014 and displacedmore than a million people. Massevacuations from low-lying areas wereundertaken. On 12 October, cyclone Hudhudmade landfall near the eastern portcity of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradeshas a category four storm, bringing widespreadfloods and landslides. It triggeredMap 4.3: Largest displacements in India and neighbouring countries, 2014IndusPAKISTANJhelumChenabRaviSutlejNarmadaGilgitLSrinagarPUNJABRAJASTHANine of ControlHARYANAMAHARASHTRARiver floods,September (Pakistan)740,000 displacedJAMMU&KASHMIRHIMACHALPRADESHDELHINew DelhiYamunaArea occupiedby Chinaand claimedby IndiaJammu & Kashmirfloods, September812,000 displacedUTTARAKHANDUTTAR PRADESHMADHYA PRADESHGodavariTELANGANACHINAGangesFloods in the South,August (Nepal)43,000 displacedCHHATTISGARHNEPALGhagharaOdisha floods, July1.1 million displacedPatnaMahanadiODISHAVishakhapatnam(Land fall)CapitalInternational boundarySindhupalwchok districtlandslide, August (Nepal)40,000 displacedState boundaryAffected districts in IndiaAffected districts in neighbouring countriesEvents and displacement figuresBrahmaputraBIHARJHARKHANDCuttackPuriGangesJaipurFlood riskevacuations, August130,000 displacedBihar floods, August116,000 displacedSIKKIMWESTBENGALCyclone Hudhud,October (Cat. 4)639,000 displacedBayofBengalBHUTANGoalpara ASSAMMEGHALAYATuraWilliamnagarBANGLADESHTRIPURANew DelhiINDIAAssam & Meghalayafloods, Sept-October360,000 displacedAssam floods, July> 160,000 displacedARUNACHALPRADESHDisclaimer:The boundaries and names shown and thedesignations used on this map do not implyofficial endorsement or acceptance by IDMC.NAGALANDMANIPURMIZORAMAffected statesin 2014Brahmaputra basin floods/Downstream floods,September (Bangladesh)> 542,000 displacedMYANMARIrrawaddyKrishna40 Global Estimates 2015