Introduction

India's inherent geo-climatic and socio-economic conditions make it vulnerable to disasters, with an estimated 68% of its land susceptible to drought, 15% to landslides, 12% to floods, and 8% to cyclones (NDMP, 2024). Climate change has also increased the vulnerability to disasters, leading to extreme events such as cyclones, heatwaves, lightning, floods, and landslides becoming frequent occurrences. Data from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Down to Earth indicate that extreme events in India occurred on 331 of the 334 days from January to November 2025, resulting in the loss of 4,419 lives and affecting 7.4 million hectares of cropped land.