KOCHI: There is no provision to declare any calamity as ‘national disaster’, the Union government has informed Kerala government in response to its plea to declare the July 30 landslides in Wayanad that left over 400 dead, as one.

The Centre’s response drew flak from political parties, with Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress general secretary and the party’s Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll candidate, terming it a “shocking injustice to those who suffered unimaginable loss.”

Ruling out the ‘national disaster’ declaration, which would help the state government get more central aid, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityananda Rai said the primary responsibility of disaster management rests with state governments. The Centre provides requisite logistics and financial support to the government’s efforts, he said in a November 10 letter to Prof K V Thomas, Kerala government’s representative in New Delhi.

Rai wrote that state governments provide financial relief to affected people in the event of 12 notified natural disasters, which include floods and landslides, from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). “In the event of a disaster of a serious nature, additional financial aid is extended from the NDRF, as per laid down procedure, which includes an assessment based on the visit of an Inter-Ministerial Central Team,” said the letter.

We would like to know what action was taken by Centre: Prof K V Thomas

“The assistance provided under SDRF and NDRF is by way of relief and not for compensation. Further, under the existing guidelines of SDRF/NDRF, there is no provision to declare any calamity as ‘national disaster’,” the Union minister’s letter said.