Natural disasters increasing people's concerns: PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day address on Thursday that people's concerns have been increasing due to natural disasters over the last few years.

The prime minister's remarks come against the backdrop of catastrophic landslides in Kerala's Wayanad in which more than 230 people were killed on July 30, and torrential rains and flooding in many other states.

Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 78th Independence Day, PM Modi said, "This year and over the last few years, we all are becoming more worried due to the natural disasters." Heavy monsoon rains and flooding in several states, including in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi, have claimed many lives and destroyed public and private property.