Guwahati, June 21 -- Simrin Sirur

In August 2024, when sheets of rain came pouring down on Kohima, Nagaland's capital city, the retaining wall surrounding 70-year-old Vejopra Dozo's home collapsed due to a landslide. "It was an especially bad bout of rain, and we even lost 40 to 50 bags of rice worth Rs 60,000, which were all washed away," he told Mongabay India over the phone.

In May 2025, a sum of Rs 25,000 was deposited in Dozo's bank account, after he paid a visit to the District Disaster Management Authority. Unlike in the past, this compensation came not from traditional government funds, but from insurance. In the time it took for Dozo to be compensated, the Nagaland government was adding its finishing touches to a new extreme-we...