In the backdrop of natural disasters striking at an enhanced frequency and the immediate context provided by the deadly landslides in Wayanad and the cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh, the Centre on Thursday introduced in the Lok Sabha amendments to the Disaster Management Act, 2005, seeking to strengthen the working of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs).
The bill seeks to empower the NDMA and the SDMAs to prepare the disaster plan at the national and the state level, respectively, instead of the national and state executive committees. The NDMA and the SDMAs would also be empowered to create a disaster database at the national and state levels respectively.
Amongst the objectives of the bill is to bring more clarity and convergence in the roles of authorities and committees working in the field of disaster management. The bill seeks to provide statutory status to certain pre-Act organisations like the National Crisis Management Committee and the High-Level Committee.
A provision has also been made for the constitution of State Disaster Response Force by the state governments.
The bill states that the NDMA will take stock of the entire range of disaster risks in the country periodically, including emerging disaster risks, and issue updated guidance for their mitigation. Significantly, the bill clarifies that the expression “emerging disaster risks” refers to risks of those disasters that may not have taken place, but, may occur in future due to extreme climate events and other factors as may be determined by the national authority.
A new Section 60A would be inserted into the law to empower the central and state governments to direct any person to take any action or refrain from taking any action to reduce the impact of a disaster and to impose a penalty not exceeding Rs 10,000.
The bill also states that “man-made causes” do not include any law and order-related matter or situation, or any situation arising from a law and order-related matter or situation.
According to the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, the proposed changes seek to align the law with the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission, learnings from past disasters, and experience gained during the implementation of the Act. It was also stated that the law has been reviewed in consultation with all stakeholders, including the state governments.
