No ‘national plan’ yet as mandated by the Disaster Management Act

Is there a national plan drawn out by the National Disaster Management Authority presided over by the Prime Minister? The question was raised in the Supreme Court on Thursday and the Government was asked to produce the notification specifying minimum standards of shelter, food, drinking water, medical cover and sanitation.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal informed the court that no minimum standards had been fixed for any of the categories till now. While the responsibility has been shifted by the Centre to the state governments, the failure to act on the provisions of the DMA Act had led to poor coordination between the natinal, state and district plans.

Section 11 of the Disaster Management Act of 2005 lays down that a national plan would be finalised by the National Executive Committee set up by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in consultation with states and expert bodies.

Non-implementation of minimum standards and lack of coordination, Sibal informed the court, had led to confusion, lack of clarity and coordination and wildly varying standards of sanitation and shelter for people in isolation and quarantine.

"This is the reason why people are walking. It has nothing to do with politics. People are walking away from shelters because the shelter homes are not up to standard." No plan had been referred to in the Centre’s affidavit and there is no reference made to any state or district level plans as mandated in the Act, Sibal pointed out.

Pointing out that the Centre claims it would take three months to transport the rest of the migrant workers waiting to go back home, what are the arrangements, he asked. Trains, the court was informed, were running at 3% of the Indian Railway’s capacity.

“There are people who don’t speak Hindi, there are migrants from other states who are not able to communicate. What food is being provided to them? Pulses is not the answer. Where will they cook all this,” Sibal asked and said, “I'm pointing out statutory provisions. The Solicitor General should tell us where is the notification under section 12 with minimum standards under the Disaster Management Authority.”