Year Ender 2020: The year 2020 will go down in the history as one of the most dreaded times of all. We zoomed into the year with positivity and laughter to perhaps end it as the worst year for not only India, but the world. This year, we went on to witness one of the toughest periods with catastrophic events from cyclones, floods to plane crash leaving behind the trail of destruction. Also Read: Cyclone Nivar Update | Sec 144 Imposed In Puducherry; Severe Cyclonic Storm Gets Closer To Chennai


Here are the events that marked 2020 as one of the difficult periods in the history of India

Covid-19: India's first novel coronavirus case in India was also reported from Kerala with a student from China’s Wuhan University testing positive. The deadly virus -- 2019-nCoV -- that traces its origin in the local seafood market of Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province in central China - has killed 1.3 million globally. The US, India and Brazil remain the top three countries in terms of the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases, followed by France and Russia



Cyclone Amphan: Amid the pandemic, India was struck by a super cyclone Amphan that created havoc in West Bengal and Odisha in May. Amphan was a tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in eastern India and Bangladesh. It has left at least 72 people dead in West Bengal's six districts. It was a double whammy for West Bengal and Odisha which have been overwrought with the rising cases of Coronavirus.

 (Image: Munir uz Zaman / AFP)

Locust attack: The swarms of locusts entered India causing severe damages. In one day, these pests can eat food equivalent to the amount eaten by 2,500 people. Locusts are also responsible for creating famine-like conditions in many African countries. In India, the government had to us several measures to deal with these pests. Enetering India through Iran and Pakistan, the locusts have not just registered their presence in the border states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, but spread its wings in the interiors of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as well. As per the Print report, locusts have already destroyed over 2 lakh hectares of crops and around 6 lakh hectares of crop were under its impact.

Cyclone Nisarga: This was the second cyclone to strike the Indian coast in two weeks in 2021, but the intensity of the cycline was lesser than Amphan, which wreaked havoc on the eastern coast. This was only the second time since 1902 that a cyclone has developed over the Arabian Sea.

Assam floods & Mumbai floods: In the month of August, floods triggered by heavy rain in Assam has affected 3.18 lakh people across 13 districts. This year at least 137 wild animals lost their lives due to the floods, while 163 were rescued, as over 95 per cent of the 884 sq km Kaziranga Park was flooded. While floods in Mumbai brought by heavy rains and overflowing rivers across large swathes of western and southern India killed at least 60 people and damaged rice, cotton and other crops worth billions of rupees, as per Reuters.

Kozhikode plane crash: Around 18 people including two pilots were killed while 170 lives were saved when the Air India aircraft (IX-1344) crashed in Kozhikode. The plane had 190 people, including 174 adult passengers, 10 children, four cabin crew and two pilots. The plane continued running till the end of the runway and fell into the valley and broke into two portions.



Neyveli explosion: A massive explosion took place at a boiler in stage -2 of the Neyveli lignite plant leaving around 17 persons critically injured and five dead. The mishap occurred at the fifth unit of the thermal power station-II (210 MW x 7) when workers were in the process of resuming operations

Hope 2021 turns out to be happier for everyone, giving us a breather from such events and brings the much-needed peace and tranquility in our lives.