Unseasonal rain is a natural calamity: Maharashtra

Subject :Geography

Section: Indian geography

Concept :

In a move to provide relief to affected farmers, the Maharashtra cabinet said unseasonal rains will be considered a natural calamity in the state.

Background

Crops of several farmers were damaged in unseasonal rains and hailstorms in Maharashtra last month. The Opposition had demanded that the state government give immediate relief to the affected farmers.

How does the Law define a Disaster?

Disaster Management Act, 2005 defines a ‘disaster’ as a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area – arising from natural or man-made causes, or by accident or negligence.
A natural disaster includes earthquake, flood, landslide, cyclone, tsunami, urban flood, heatwave; a man-made disaster can be nuclear, biological and chemical.
It 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.

Provisions to Classify a National Calamity

There is no provision, executive or legal, to declare a natural calamity as a national calamity.
The existing guidelines of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)/ National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), do not contemplate declaring a disaster as a ‘National Calamity.”

Earlier Attempts in this Direction

The 10th Finance Commission (1995-2000) examined a proposal that a disaster is 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 taking into account.
The intensity and magnitude of the calamity
Level of assistance needed
The capacity of the state to tackle the problem
The alternatives and flexibility were available within the plans to provide succour and relief, etc.
In 2001, the National Committee on Disaster Management under the chairmanship of the then Prime Minister was mandated to look into the parameters that should define a national calamity.
However, the committee did not suggest any fixed criterion.

Local Disaster:

A State Government may use up to 10 per cent of the funds available under the SDRF for providing immediate relief to the victims of natural disasters that they consider to be ‘disasters’ within the local context in the State and which are not included in the notified list of disasters of the Ministry of Home Affairs subject to the condition that the State Government has listed the State-specific natural disasters and notified clear and transparent norms and guidelines for such disasters with the approval of the State Authority, i.e., the State Executive Authority (SEC).