Farmers in India's Punjab suffered from the worst floods in four decades in August 2025. Vikas Choudhary / CSE
Climate Change

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2025: Fund resilience, not disasters, by empowering vulnerable communities

India recorded 3,500 disaster deaths and 235 extreme weather days in 2025, underlining that prevention, not repair, must be the new priority.

Debabrat Patra

  • India recorded 3,502 disaster-related deaths and 235 extreme weather days in just eight months of 2025, a sharp rise since 2022.

  • Widespread floods, landslides and heatwaves have devastated north-western states and coastal regions.

  • Experts blame climate change, poor planning, and mismanaged dams for compounding the impacts of heavy rainfall.

  • Despite huge spending on disaster response, funding for resilience and community empowerment remains minimal.

  • The global call this year: “Fund Resilience, Not Disasters”, shift investments towards prevention, livelihoods, and local leadership.

This year’s theme for Disaster Preparedness Day, observed on October 13 2025, Fund resilience, not disasters, could not be more timely. India has witnessed widespread floods and landslides across the country this year. By August 31, there had already been 3,502 disaster-related deaths — an 87 per cent increase since 2022 — and extreme weather on 235 of 243 days, a 42 per cent rise over the same period, according to India’s Atlas on Weather Disasters published by Down To Earth and the Centre for Science and Environment.

During this monsoon season, 249 districts recorded excess or large excess rainfall. Half of these were in north-western India — particularly Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttarakhand — as well as the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Among several reasons for the heavy rainfall in the region were disruptions in Arctic wind systems caused by climate change, rising emissions and unsustainable development models. Poor drainage, encroachment of hillsides, and the construction of ports and resorts in fragile coastal zones have all worsened the problem.

Mismanagement of dam water flows has also been a major factor. The Himachal Pradesh government even filed a police complaint against the Bhakra Beas Management Board for violating safety norms and failing to compensate affected communities.

A year of extreme losses

In 2025, rainfall patterns became even more erratic — the entire season’s worth of rain often fell within hours. Punjab experienced heavy rainfall on 24 of 31 days in August, with precipitation 400 per cent above normal, breaking a 27-year record.

Jammu and Kashmir saw rainfall 250 per cent above average in August and September, while Himachal Pradesh recorded 300 per cent excess rain between August 28 and September 3 — Mandi saw 482 per cent more rainfall and Shimla 433 per cent. Odisha suffered floods seven times along its Balasore coast. Landslides and cloudbursts were also reported from Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and, more recently, Darjeeling.

Heatwaves, too, took a toll — at least 84 people died of heatstroke between February and July 2025. Lightning strikes have risen by 400 per cent over the past six years. Lightning claims more lives in India annually than any other extreme weather event. Between April and July this year alone, 1,621 people died due to lightning strikes.

Floods affected more than two million people. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs reported that natural disasters such as cyclones, flash floods, landslides and cloudbursts killed 2,616 people in 2023-24, a 24 per cent rise on the previous year.

Disasters are becoming more frequent, more costly and more devastating. While the direct costs are estimated at around $202 billion annually, the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2025 suggests the real figure may be up to 11 times higher — nearly $2.3 trillion. Yet, investment in disaster risk reduction (DRR) remains woefully inadequate, both in national budgets and international assistance. Under the theme Fund Resilience, Not Disasters, this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction calls for urgent change: to invest in resilience now, rather than pay for destruction later.

The Government of India spends around Rs 60,000 crore annually on disaster response, mitigation and recovery projects. Nine states have projects with a combined outlay of Rs 4,645.6 crore — just 1.23 per cent of the Union government’s 2024-25 budget. While this may sound substantial, it must be spent wisely. Despite these allocations, losses during this year’s monsoon alone are estimated at Rs 24,000 crore. 

Beyond infrastructure to people’s resilience

The 2025 campaign for Disaster Risk Reduction calls for two major actions: Increase funding for DRR in both public and international budgets, and ensure that all development and private investments — which account for 75 per cent of total investment — are risk-informed and resilient.

Current programmes often overlook vital elements of community resilience that go beyond infrastructure. While physical improvements are important, they must not come at the expense of community empowerment. Many initiatives fail to address alternative livelihoods, compensation for lost working days, or employment guarantees for vulnerable regions — particularly urban, coastal and hilly areas during lean seasons.

Rehabilitation efforts also tend to be limited, ignoring the full needs of people affected by disasters such as coastal erosion and landslides. There is a pressing need for community-led environmental impact assessments of large projects — such as Sagarmala and new port developments in ecologically sensitive zones — to ensure they are risk-informed and sustainable.

Local bodies in both urban and rural areas also need more funding to strengthen disaster preparedness and resilience. Building leadership among youth and women is essential to fostering community-led climate action, from mangrove restoration and afforestation to pollution control of water bodies. Greater transparency and clear standards for resilience-building initiatives are necessary, as is independent monitoring of government-funded programmes.

What needs to be done

In the coming years, India’s focus must rest on a few critical areas. First, disaster compensation must align with the international loss and damage framework, ensuring that state agencies prioritise support for the most vulnerable — women, children, persons with disabilities, the elderly, Dalits, Adivasis and others. Relief and livelihood assistance must be strengthened, with new cyclone and flood shelters built in north-west India and better early warning systems established.

Second, in conflict situations, peacebuilding should accompany immediate rescue and relief efforts, with special focus on those most at risk.

Finally, resilience building must be prioritised: protecting and restoring coastal, hill and other fragile ecosystems; ensuring timely compensation and entitlements; and supporting research into sustainable development strategies for ecologically vulnerable regions.

Civil society organisations can play a crucial role beyond the initial rescue phase. Climate and disaster action volunteers should track government compensation schemes, advocate for livelihood-oriented approaches, and support the regeneration of coastal and river ecosystems. Research on the climate emergency must guide community-led rehabilitation within the loss and damage framework.

Promoting youth and women leaders will strengthen grassroots resilience; training them to assist local authorities during rescue, response and recovery will make disaster management more inclusive. Initiatives such as mangrove plantations and social audits can help protect ecosystems while ensuring accountability in disaster response.

Community-led climate action plans at the village, gram panchayat and district levels can empower people to adapt to climate risks effectively. States must also operationalise Urban Disaster Management Authorities, as permitted under the amended Disaster Management Act, in capital cities and major municipalities, to better respond to climate-induced urban crises.

Ultimately, India must adopt a comprehensive climate justice policy that integrates disaster response, resilience-building and resettlement, underpinned by adequate financial resources.

Debabrat Patra is associate director and humanitarian lead, ActionAid Association

Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth