Year 2022: Major disasters that struck India this year

New Delhi, Dec 15: The year 2022 will end in just a few days. While people battled the Covid-19 pandemic on one side, natural calamities brought misery to their lives in several parts of the country. Thousands of lives were lost apart from thousands of crores of damages to individuals and the government.

Here are the major disasters that struck India in 2022:

Covid pandemic: As of 14 December 2022, according to government figures, India has the second-highest number of confirmed cases in the world after the United States of America with 44,676,470 reported cases of COVID-19 infection and the third-highest number of COVID-19 deaths at 530,658. In May 2022, the World Health Organization estimated 4.7 million excess deaths, both directly and indirectly related to COVID-19 to have taken place in India. On January 30, 2022, India announced that it administered about 1.7 billion doses of vaccines and more than 720 million people were fully vaccinated.

Vaishno Devi Temple stampede: On 1 January 2022, 12 people were killed and 16 others injured during a stampede near to Gate No. 3 at the Vaishno Devi Temple in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, northern India. Hundreds of people were packed inside the Vaishno Devi Temple corridor to offer prayers shortly after midnight to start the first day of the new year of 2022.

Surat gas leak: On 6 January 2022, at least six people died and 22 people became sick following gas leak from a tanker in an industrial area in Sachin, Surat, Gujarat. Around 4:25 am IST on 6 January 2022, the gas leaked from a tanker parked in Sachin GIDC, an industrial area. It was reported that the driver of the tanker was illegally dumping the chemical waste in the drain which resulted in the gas leak. The driver fled. The labourers sleeping in nearby dyeing and printing factory and outside were affected.

Bikaner-Guwahati Express derailment: On 13 January 2022, a Bikaner-Guwahati Express train derailed near Domohani, Maynaguri, Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal. The train was traveling from Bikaner in Rajasthan to Guwahati in Assam. Nine people were killed and 50 people were injured. This is the first major train derailment in 2022, and the first in India since the Seemanchal Express derailment in Bihar in February 2019.

Trikut cable car accident: On 10 April 2022, a cable-car collision was reported at Trikut Hill in Deoghar district, Jharkhand, India. At least three people were killed and others were injured.[1][2] Helicopters and the army are called for rescue. Over 38 people have been rescued.

Delhi fire: On 13 May 2022, a fire began on the first floor of four-storey office and commercial building in the Mundka area of Delhi, India. It killed 27 people and injured 40 others, and at least 50 people were rescued. The fire is believed to have been started by a short circuit.

Mumbai building collapse: On 27 June 2022, a building partially collapsed in Kurla, Mumbai, Maharashtra. The four-storey, 50-year-old building, which had been in poor condition for years, collapsed killing at least 19 people and many others injured.

Manipur landslide: A large landslide occurred in Noney district of the Indian state of Manipur near the Tupul railway construction site on the night of 30 June 2022 killing 58 people and three people were missing. Eighteen people were also injured. Twenty-nine Indian Army personnel and 29 civilians were among the deceased. Of the missing three people, two were civilians and one was an Indian Army personnel.

Morbi bridge collapse: On 30 October 2022 a pedestrian suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in the city of Morbi in Gujarat, India, collapsed, causing the deaths of at least 135 people and injuries to more than 180 others. The 19th-century bridge had reopened five days earlier, in time for Diwali and the Gujarati New Year, following a lengthy closure for repairs.