Kerala wants coastal erosion declared 'natural disaster'; CM asks Centre to double relief

After facing the wrath of Cyclone Tauktae, the Kerala govt has now written to the Centre urging coastal erosion to be declared a natural disaster & sought the disaster relief amount provided to be doubled in view of the damages suffered. Writing to PM Modi on Friday, Kerala CM Vijayan noted that the state govt had already declared coastal erosion as a state-level disaster and pointed out that the Centre had the permission to provide assistance to the people in the event of state-level disasters from the annual allocation to SDRF (state disaster response fund) and NDRF for up to 10%. Noting that the SDRF-NDRF assistance cannot be given for losses due to coastal erosion, the Kerala CM demanded that coastal erosion be declared a natural disaster.

"The Central Government has permission to provide assistance to the people in the event of state-level disasters from the annual allocation to SDRF (state disaster response fund) and NDRF for up to 10 per cent. Accordingly, Kerala has already declared coastal erosion as a state-level disaster. However, the Central government has not taken such a decision. In the current situation, SDRF-NDRF assistance cannot be given for losses due to coastal erosion," CM Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters on Friday.

Further, the Kerala CM said that the state government was currently providing assistance in the case of natural calamities as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission. The central government is in the process of revising the norms on relief to people through SDRMF and NDRMF as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission.

"In the wake of COVID 19, increasing the relief amount to the people would be beneficial to the state government. The Prime Minister has been asked to double the relief available when the norms are revised," CM Vijayan added.

Kerala CM wants coastal erosion to be declared natural disaster

Odisha CM demands long-term solution for coastal erosion

Meanwhile, Odisha CM Patnaik also wanted long term solution to the problem of coastal erosion which adds to the danger from storms in the coastal belt. Odisha is currently reeling in the aftermath of Cyclone Yaas. The Chief Minister drew the attention of PM Modi, who on Friday reviewed the post-cyclone situation and damages caused by Cyclone Yaas in the state at a meeting, to the disaster-resilient power system, the demand for which is being made for the last two years. This apart, the CM also empathetically demanded a coastal storm surge protection mechanism.