Context:
Kerala requests Centre to declare Wayanad landslide a national disaster.
Definition of a disaster:
- Defined under – Disaster Management Act, 2005
- It refers to a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man-made causes, or by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area.
Classification as a national disaster:
- There is no provision, executive or legal, to declare a natural calamity as a national calamity.
- The existing guidelines of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)/ National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), do not contemplate declaring a disaster as a ‘National Calamity’.
- The government had treated the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and the 1999 super cyclone in Odisha as “a calamity of unprecedented severity
How, then, does the government classify disasters/calamities?
- The 10th Finance Commission (1995-2000) examined a proposal that a disaster be termed “a national calamity of rarest severity” if it affects one-third of the population of a state.
- The panel did not define a “calamity of rare severity” but stated that a calamity of rare severity would necessarily have to be adjudged on a case-to-case basis.
- The flash floods in Uttarakhand and Cyclone Hudhud were later classified as calamities of “severe nature”.
What happens if a calamity is so declared?
- When a calamity is declared to be of “rare severity”, support to the state government is provided at the national level.
- The Centre also considers additional assistance from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
- A Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) is set up, with the corpus shared 3:1 between Centre and state.
- When resources in the CRF are inadequate, additional assistance is considered from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF), funded 100% by the Centre.
- Relief in repayment of loans or for grant of fresh loans to the persons affected on concessional terms, too, are considered once a calamity is declared “severe”.
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction:
- An international document that was adopted by the UN member states at the 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan.
- Endorsed in – June 2015
- Target year – 2030
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Question
The 2004 Tsunami made people realise that mangroves can serve as a reliable safety hedge against coastal calamities. How do mangroves function as a safety hedge?
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2011 Prelims]
(a) The mangrove swamps separate the human settlements from the sea by a wide zone in which people neither live nor venture out.
(b) The mangroves provide both food and medicines which people are in need of after any natural disaster.
(c) The mangrove trees are tall with dense canopies and serve as an excellent shelter during a cyclone or Tsunami.
(d) The mangrove trees do not get uprooted by storms and tides because of their extensive roots
Answer: (d)
