Bill to amend Disaster Management Act tabled in Parliament amid rain fury

The bill was tabled in Lok Sabha as 300 people died in rain-related incidents this week, with Kerala's Wayanad facing the maximum brunt due to back-to-back landslides.

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In Short

• Bill includes provision for creating disaster database
• Database will include fund allocation details, expenditure
• 300 died in rain-related incidents this week, Wayanad worst hit

Union Minister Nityanand Rai on Thursday introduced a bill to amend the Disaster Management Act, 2005, in Parliament as over 300 people died in rain-related incidents this week, with Kerala's Wayanad facing the maximum brunt.

The amended bill includes a provision for creating a disaster database at the national and state level for timely disaster assessment and measures. It also seeks the constitution of an Urban Disaster Management Authority for state capitals and major cities.

The disaster database will include fund allocation details, expenditure, and preparedness and mitigation plan as determined by the Centre.

As many as 32 people have died in rain-related incidents in seven states in the past 24 hours, while massive landslides in Kerala's picturesque Wayanad have killed over 250.

The Congress has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to declare the Wayanad landslides a "calamity of severe nature" to facilitate urgent assistance from MPs to the affected areas.

The rescue operations in Wayanad entered Day 3 on Thursday, with authorities still grappling to determine the exact number of people missing. Adverse conditions, including muddy soil and heavy rain, have hindered rescue operations.

Meanwhile, cloudbursts in Himachal Pradesh and neighbouring Uttarakhand have killed at least 14 people, with scores of others missing.

The calamity left a trail of destruction in Shimla, Mandi, and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh, damaging several houses, schools, and hospitals.