All that was discussed in the House through the day
Nearly 2,880 people died due to lightning strikes in various states of the country in 2021, Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Earth Sciences, told the Lok Sabha.
At least 2,800 people died every year from 2019-2022. While 2,862 died due to lightning in 2020, the figure rose to 2,876 in 2019.
Madhya Pradesh (496) reported the most number of casualties in 2021, followed by Bihar (287). Despite thousands of casualties, lightning is not a notified disaster listed under the National Disaster Response Fund.
“Presently, the notified list of disasters eligible for National Disaster Response Fund / State Disaster Response Fund assistance, includes 12 disasters namely cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloud burst, pest attack and frost & cold wave,” the minister said.
The incidence of zoonotic diseases has been on the rise in the last decade. These diseases have been expanding their territory, Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the Ministry of Science and Technology (independent charge), told the Lok Sabha.
India has seen the incidence of a few of these diseases, including bird flu, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever and Nipah virus, Singh added.
In India, nearly 3,008.05 hectares of land were degraded due to mining by Coal India Ltd in 2022-23, Pralhad Joshi, minister for coal and mines, told the Lok Sabha.
Coal / lignite public sector undertakings (PSU) have established 15 eco-parks over the last five years. The government hasn’t funded any of these eco-parks and expenditures incurred for the establishment, maintenance and upkeep are funded by the respective PSUs, Joshi told the Lok Sabha.
Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research, a constituent unit under the Department of Atomic Energy, has established two uranium deposits, Singh told the Lok Sabha.
A total of 244,070 tonnes (t) of in-situ uranium oxide has been established in the Tummalapalle Group of deposits in the YSR district and the Koppunuru deposit in Palnadu (erstwhile Guntur) district of Andhra Pradesh. This includes 241,309 t in-situ uranium oxide in Tummalapalle and 2,761 t in-situ uranium oxide in Koppunuru.
Tummalapalle is the single largest uranium deposit discovered so far in India (2,41,309 t uranium 3O8), Singh added.
Some coal mines of Jharia in Jharkhand have been burning for many years due to unscientific mining carried out before the nationalisation of coal mines, Joshi told the Lok Sabha. About 37 MT of good quality prime coking coal has been destroyed due to fire, according to Jharia Master Plan, 2009.
The ministry has formulated the Vehicle Scrapping Policy that includes a system of incentives / disincentives for creating an ecosystem to phase out older, unfit and polluting vehicles across the country, Nitin Gadkari, minister of road transport and highways, told the Rajya Sabha.
The policy envisages voluntary scrapping of unfit commercial and personal vehicles, strictly based on their fitness, irrespective of age. Until July 1, 2023, 11,095 private vehicles have been scrapped at registered vehicle scrapping facilities.
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