Kerala to declare Wayanad landslide ‘state disaster’, as Centre declines ‘national disaster’ tag

Sub: Geo

Sec: Indian physical geo

Context:

The Union government has declined to declare the Wayanad landslides a national disaster.

Details:

The Kerala government issued an order declaring Meppadi Panchayat as “disaster-affected” after the official death toll exceeded 200.
Kerala Revenue Minister K Rajan mentioned that the state government requested the central government to declare the event a national disaster, but the request was denied due to legal issues.
The affected areas include Kottapadi Village, Vellarmala Village, and Thrikkaipetta Village in Vythiri Taluk of Wayanad.
The order states that Meppadi Grama Panchayath be declared disaster-affected from July 30, 2024, and a formal gazette notification will follow.
The state disaster declaration allows for increased compensation and access to the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund.
The national disaster tag is needed for central compensation to assist in house construction and rehabilitation of displaced persons.
Declaring a national disaster helps set up a relief fund with contributions from the Union and state governments, but there are no clear criteria for such a declaration.

What is a national disaster?

There is no provision, executive or legal, to declare a natural calamity as a national calamity.
Hence there is no fixed criterion to define any calamity as a national calamity.
In this regard, the 10th Finance Commission (1995-2000) examined a proposal.
The proposal was to term a disaster “a national calamity of rarest severity” if it affects one-third of the state’s population.
The panel did not define a “calamity of rare severity”.
But it stated that a calamity of rare severity would necessarily have to be adjudged on a case-to-case basis.
It would have to take into account:
- the intensity and magnitude of the calamity
- the level of assistance needed
- the capacity of the state to tackle the problem
- the alternatives and flexibility available within the plans to provide relief, etc
Accordingly, 2013 Uttarakhand flood and 2014 Cyclone Hudhud in Andhra Pradesh were classified as calamities of “severe nature”.

What are the benefits of such a declaration?

On declaration as a calamity of “rare severity”/”severe nature”, support to the state government is provided at the national level.
The Centre also considers additional assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund.
A Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) is set up, with the corpus shared 3:1 between Centre and state.
When CRF resources are inadequate, additional assistance is considered from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF).
NCCF is funded 100% by the Centre.
Relief in repayment of loans or grant of fresh loans to the affected persons on concessional terms are also considered.

How is the funding decided?

It works as per the National Policy on Disaster Management, 2009.
The National Crisis Management Committee deals with major crises that have serious or national ramifications.
It is headed by the Cabinet Secretary.
The inter-ministerial central teams are deputed to the affected states.
They make assessment of damage and relief assistance required.
An inter-ministerial group, headed by the Union Home Secretary, studies the assessment.
It then recommends the quantum of assistance from the NDRF/NCCF.
Based on this, a high-level committee approves the central assistance.
It comprises of Finance Minister as chairman, and Home Minister, Agriculture Minister, and others as members.

Source: DH