Wayanad tragedy: Kerala govt, Oppn demand ‘national disaster’ status as Centre drags feet

The visit of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi to the disaster-stricken areas of Wayanad on Thursday (August 1) revealed an uncommon agreement between the two leaders. Both stated that "this is not the time for politics," and their comments regarding the need to classify the disaster as a ‘national calamity’ were notably similar.

Cooperative spirit

Before heading to Chooralmala, Vijayan chaired an all-party meeting, while Rahul, accompanied by senior Congress leaders including VD Satheesan, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the assembly, visited the affected areas and relief camps with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the potential candidate for the upcoming by-election to replace him as the MP of Wayanad.

At the all-party meeting, opposition representatives, including the LoP and Deputy Leader of the Opposition, offered constructive suggestions, demonstrating the unity of Kerala’s political landscape during the crisis. The chief minister later highlighted this cooperative spirit in a media briefing.

United stand during calamity

This is not the first instance of the ruling and opposition parties coming together in response to a natural disaster. During the 2018 floods, Chief Minister Vijayan’s aerial survey alongside then LoP Ramesh Chennithala made national headlines. However, in subsequent crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Opposition opted not to walk hand in hand with the government, challenging each decision the government made.

Many political observers say this lack of cooperation by the Opposition was a significant factor that led to its debacle in the 2021 Assembly elections.

This time, despite launching a vigorous offensive against the government—an approach that has yielded significant gains for the Congress-led Opposition— it has nonetheless chosen to stand united with the government in time of crisis.

Centre-state tiff over ‘national calamity’ status

Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in Parliament, where he directly accused the state government of failing to act on warnings sent by the Union government, was the only notable source of political tension following the Wayanad incident. The row gained momentum because the chief minister chose to respond and deny the allegations.

Another area of disagreement between the Centre and the state was the call to classify the landslides as a national calamity – a proposition that the BJP-led government has opposed.

From the day the disaster struck Wayanad, the primary demand by almost all the political parties in the state has been to declare it a national disaster.

"We have already placed our demand for this to be declared a national disaster. Now it’s the Union government's turn to respond. If it is rejecting the demand, let it explain why," said Vijayan.

Echoing the same sentiments, Rahul while speaking to the press on Thursday, described the calamity as terrible tragedy for Wayanad and the nation and said, "To me, this is definitely a national disaster, but let's see what the government says."

Why has Centre not responded to Kerala’s demands?

While Kerala MPs have been raising the demand in Parliament from day one, the Centre has maintained that there are no legal or executive provisions to define a calamity as a “national disaster”.

When MPs from Kerala requested in Parliament that the Wayanad landslides be declared a national calamity, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that there was no provision to declare any disaster in such a manner. Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, said that according to the National Policy on Disaster Management, the primary responsibility for disaster management, including the disbursal of relief to affected individuals, lies with the states and Union territories.

Technically, the minister was correct: there are no legal or executive provisions to declare a natural calamity as a ‘national disaster’. However, despite this, states frequently request such a declaration because it affects eligibility for assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

‘Calamity of a severe nature’

However, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines have provisions for “a calamity of severe nature”. According to the Disaster Management Act of 2005 and the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, any officially recognised “calamity of a severe nature” qualifies for assistance from the NDRF.

Neither the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) nor the NDRF guidelines specify criteria for declaring a natural calamity as one of severe nature. However, when a disaster's impact on life, property, and infrastructure is extensive; surpasses the state's ability to respond; and presents challenges beyond the scope of standard rescue and relief efforts, the Union government may classify it as a calamity of severe nature. This classification is typically based on recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), which makes its assessments following field observations after the disaster.

Need for review by central team

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor while writing a letter to Home Minister Shah has accurately pointed this out. He urged the home minister to declare the Wayanad landslides as a “calamity of severe nature” under the MPLADS guidelines, in order to facilitate urgent assistance from MPs to the affected areas.

Earlier, the 2013 flash floods in Uttarakhand and Cyclone Hudhud of 2014 were classified as calamities of “severe nature “with an extraordinary natural disaster.

An inter-ministerial team that visited Kerala to assess the severity of the 2020 floods described the situation as a "calamity of severe nature for all practical purposes," but did not officially classifying it as such.