Declare landslides in Wayanad a national disaster, demand opposition members in Parliament

New Delhi: Several MPs on Tuesday demanded that the landslides in Wayanad be declared a national disaster, but the Home Ministry told Parliament that there is no provision to declare such a disaster in this way.

In response to a question from Congress MP K Sudhakaran, who represents Kannur state in Kerala, Home Ministry Nityanand Rai said the primary responsibility for disaster management, including providing relief to the affected population, as per the National Disaster Management Policy, lies with the states and union territories.

“The State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) / National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) scheme does not provide for declaring a calamity as a national calamity,” Rai said in a written response.

“The state governments undertake emergency measures in the wake of natural disasters from the SDRF, already made available to them, in accordance with the items and norms approved by the Government of India. However, the central government assesses a calamity of ‘serious nature’ on a case-by-case basis, taking into account, among other things, the intensity and magnitude of the calamity, the level of relief required, the capacity of the state government to deal with the problem, etc,” he added.

In the Rajya Sabha, CPI party leader P Sandosh Kumar and Congress MP Jebi Mather demanded that the landslides in Wayanad be declared a national disaster.