end of 2007-08 has been at 113.8 crore, up from last years’ 112.2 crore. About 214 million people, or 20.8 % of India's population, are poor. The incidence of
income poverty
in rural andurban areas is estimated to be 21.7 % and 18.7 %, respectively. Around 22.3 % householdscontrol 51% of India's total income, their per capita income is Rs 33,170 annually, about ninetimes that of the lowest income-level segment of 17.9 % households, whose annual per capitaincome is Rs 3,534. The
urban annual income
level of Rs 95,827 is around 85 % higher thanthe rural annual income level of Rs 51,922.
Labourers
constitute over 62 % of poor households.In contrast, this group accounts for 26 % of non-poor households. While 21.7 % of
non-poorhouseholds
earn
salaries
, just about 4.4 % of poor households earn their living through salary or wages.
Natural disasters
cause massive losses of Indian life and property. Among the 35 States/ UnionTerritories, 25 are disaster proneand the Coast line is exposed to tropical cyclones
.Floods, drought, landslides and cyclones
occur regularly whereas earthquake risk is extremelyhigh. Other dangers include frequent summer
dust storms
, causing extensive property damage in North India.
Hail
is also common in parts of India, causing severe damage to standing crops suchas rice and wheat. In the Lower Himalaya,
landslides
are common, whereas in parts of theWestern Ghats low-intensity landslides occur On account of labile rock formations, which aresusceptible to slippages.
Avalanches
occur in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Sikkim.
Floods
are the most common natural disaster in India. The heavy southwest
monsoon rains
cause the Brahmaputra and other rivers to distend their banks, flooding surrounding areas ,killingthousands and displacing millions. Flash floods and torrential rains, have become increasinglycommon in central India over the past several decades, coinciding with
rising temperatures
.Failure of the monsoons result in
water shortages
, in
drought
-prone regions such as southernand eastern Maharashtra, northern Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. Inthe past, droughts have periodically led to major
famines
, including the Bengal famine of 1770,1876–1877 ,1899, in which millions died; and that of 1943, in which over five million died.According to
earthquake hazard
zoning of India, tectonic plates beneath the earth's surfacecause yearly earthquakes along the Himalayan belt and in northeast India. They are classified as
Zone V
, indicating a
very high-risk
area. Parts of western India, around the Kutch region inGujarat and Koyna in Maharashtra, are classified as a
Zone IV
region (
high risk
).
Tropical
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