• The recent fatal wildlife attacks on people in Kerala has prompted the state government to declare human-animal conflict a state-specific disaster.

• The move will rope in the State Disaster Management Authority into activities at the district and local levels to address the issue. 

• The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram. 

• The State Disaster Management Authority would actively participate in mitigating human-animal conflict. 

• The government announced measures to address the pressing issue of human-animal conflict amid escalating protests in regions around human settlements near state forests. Encounters with wild animals have resulted in the loss of lives and property, prompting calls for more robust action to prevent such incidents.

State Disaster Management Authority

• The Disaster Management Act, 2005 lays down institutional and coordination mechanism for effective disaster management at the national, state, district and local levels. 

• As mandated by this Act, the government of India created a multi-tiered institutional system consisting of the NDMA headed by the PM, the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) headed by the respective Chief Ministers and the District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) headed by the district collectors and co-chaired by chairpersons of the local bodies. 

• These bodies have been set up to facilitate a paradigm shift from the hitherto relief-centric approach to a more proactive, holistic and integrated approach of strengthening disaster preparedness, mitigation, and emergency response.

• The primary responsibility of disaster management encompassing the activities related to rescue, relief, and rehabilitation lies with the state governments. 

• In order to address these issues in domestic aid, there is a need for the state governments to develop an appropriate Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for coordination and management of domestic aid including assessment of requirements, request for aid, receiving aid, sorting, storing, packing, distribution of aid, and management of unused aid.

• The State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), constituted under Section 48(1)(a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, is the primary fund available with state governments for responses to notified disasters. 

• SDRF is administered as per the recommendations of the successive Finance Commissions set up under the Article 280 of the Constitution of India. 

• The ministry of home affairs has issued guidelines for the operation of SDRF.

• The financing for relief expenditure is based on the recommendations of the Finance Commission.

• Financial assistance is provided to the state government from SDRF as per the established procedure, for meeting the expenditure on relief provided to people affected by notified disasters. 

• The central government contributes 75 per cent of SDRF allocation for general category states/UTs and 90 per cent for special category states/UTs (northeast states, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir). 

• The annual central contribution is released in two equal instalments as per the recommendation of the Finance Commission. 

• SDRF shall be used only for meeting the expenditure for providing immediate relief to the victims.

Disasters covered under SDRF: Cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloudburst, pest attack, frost and cold waves.

Local disaster: A state government may use up to 10 per cent of the funds available under the SDRF for providing immediate relief to the victims of natural disasters that they consider to be ‘disasters’ within the local context in the state and which are not included in the notified list of disasters of the ministry of home affairs subject to the condition that the state government has listed the state specific natural disasters and notified clear and transparent norms and guidelines for such disasters with the approval of the State Authority — the State Executive Authority (SEC).

• The National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) supplements SDRF of a state, in case of a disaster of severe nature, provided adequate funds are not available in SDRF.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store