New Delhi:
Taking note of a number of deaths due to heat wave in various parts of the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked a Group of Ministers (GoM) to discuss and decide on its inclusion as natural calamity.
"A (GoM) has already been constituted to look into the issue of inclusion of erosion as an eligible calamity. The GoM will also discuss and decide on inclusion of heat wave as natural calamity," Vice Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority, M Shashidhar Reddy told PTI.
The move came after Mr Reddy wrote to the Prime Minister, citing large-scale deaths due to extreme heat in various parts of the country, mainly in Andhra Pradesh.
"After my representation to the PM, an order has been issued recently for GoM to discuss the inclusion of heat wave as natural calamity so that relief can be given under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)," he said.
At present, avalanches, cyclone, cloud burst, drought, earthquake or tsunami, fire, flood, hailstorm, landslides, pest attack and frost or cold wave are defined as natural calamity by the Central government.
A compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh under the NDRF is given to the next of kin of those killed in a natural calamity.
Death toll in Andhra Pradesh due to intense heat wave has touched 1,157 so far this year as against 447 in 2012.
"As gathered from reports appearing in different media sources, there have been deaths due to heat waves in other states too like Gujarat (100), Maharashtra (90), Odisha (37), Rajasthan (35) and Bihar (34), totaling to 1,453 deaths in 2013," Mr Reddy had said in his representation to the Prime Minister.
He said that the government had constituted a GoM in 2011 to look into inclusion of cold wave or frost as an eligible calamity for relief under NDRF/SDRF based on representation from states. The cold wave or frost was identified as a natural calamity last year.