GS Paper III
News Excerpt:
The ongoing spell of extreme heat in many parts of the country has once again reopened discussions on the inclusion of heatwaves as one of the notified disasters under the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005.
Definition of Disaster
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DM Act defines a disaster as a “catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence” arising from “natural or man-made causes” that results in substantial loss of life, destruction of property, or damage to the environment.
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It must also be of such nature which is “beyond the coping capacity” of the community.
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Earlier, the DM Act was enacted in the wake of the 1999 Odisha super-cyclone and the 2004 tsunami.
Disasters included in DM Act
- Currently, there are 12 categories of disasters which are notified under this Act. These are cyclones, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloudburst, pest attack, and frost and cold waves.
Implications of including disaster in DM Act
- If the inclusion occurs, states will be able to use disaster response funds to give compensation and relief, as well as a variety of other actions related to heatwave management.
- The provisions of the DM Act can be invoked. The provisions allow states to draw money from the two funds that have been set up under this law — the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) at the national level and the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) at the state level.
- The states first utilise the funds available in the SDRF, and only if the magnitude of the disaster is unmanageable with the SDRF, states seek the money from the NDRF.
- In the FY 2023-24, only two states drew money from the NDRF.
Increased Frequency of heat waves
- In the last 15 years, however, both the severity and frequency of heatwaves have increased.
- Due to increased economic activity, there is a far larger number of people who have to remain outdoors for their livelihoods or other reasons, exposing them to the risk of a heat-stroke.
- There are 23 states, which are vulnerable to heatwaves.
Heat Action Plans
- States have prepared heat action plans (HAPs) to deal with the impacts of extreme heat.
- HAPs involve activities like creation of shaded spaces, ensuring availability of cool water in public places, distribution of simple oral solutions, and reorganising the schedules of schools, colleges and office working hours.
- These measures require expenditure but state governments have not been able to use the SDRF for them.
- This is the reason for the demand for inclusion of heatwaves as a notified disaster in the DM Act.
Reasons for not including Heat waves in DM Act:
1. Finance Commission Reluctance
- States have put the demand of including heat waves as a notified disaster before the last three Finance Commissions .
- The 15th Finance Commission, whose recommendations are currently being applied, said the existing list of notified disasters “covers the needs of the states to a large extent” and did not find merit in the request to include heatwaves.
- But it endorsed an enabling provision created by the preceding Commission that allowed states to utilise at least a part of the SDRF money — up to 10% — for “local disasters” such as lightning or heatwaves, which states could notify on their own.
- Using this new enabling provision, at least four states — Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Kerala — have added heat waves as local disasters.
- The Centre has so far resisted demands to notify it as a national disaster, using the Finance Commission as an excuse.
2. Practical Difficulties
- It will lead to a potentially huge financial implication for the government as they have to provide monetary compensation of Rs 4 lakh for every life lost because of a disaster that is in the notified list. Grievous injuries also have to be compensated.
- Heatwaves claim a large number of lives every year. This year, more than 500 heat-related deaths have already been reported.
- Once the government is mandated to provide compensation, a larger number of deaths could be revealed.
3. The problem with attributing heatwave deaths
- In most cases, heat itself does not claim lives. Most people die due to other pre-existing conditions, made worse by the impact of extreme heat. It is often difficult to ascertain whether it was heat that made the difference.
4. Other Reason
- Heat related illnesses and deaths have been widespread in many parts of northern, eastern, and central India for a long time, but heat waves were not considered a disaster when the Act was created in 2005.
- The reason for this was because heat waves weren't actually an uncommon occurrence throughout the summer, but rather a regular occurrence.
- States currently have to pay for these initiatives out of their own funds.
Funds allocated by 15th Finance Commission
- For the five year period between 2021-26, the 15th Finance Commission had recommended an allocation of Rs 1,60,153 crore to the various SDRFs, a substantial sum of money.
- A state like Uttar Pradesh has been allocated about Rs 11,400 crore in its SDRF for the five-year period.
- Maharashtra’s share is the maximum, about Rs 19,000 crore. This money is meant to deal with all kinds of disasters during this period.
- The fear is that even this money could become insufficient if heatwaves and lightning — another disaster that claims a large number of lives every year — is added to the notified list of disasters.
Argument for Inclusion of Heat waves
- On the other hand, inclusion as a notified disaster can improve the management of heatwaves.
- Heat-related illnesses and deaths would be better reported
- Authorities would be more alert to minimize the impacts of heatwaves.
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National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF)
State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)
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