Supreme Court: Looking into the poor state of Disaster management in a country that has faced many natural disasters since the Disaster Management Act, 2005 came into force, the bench of Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh, JJ took note of the fact that the provisions under Sections 11, 23 and 31 of the said Act which provide for National, State and District Plan, respectively, have not yet been adhered to.
The petitioner appearing-in-person had contended that the aftermath of disaster results in death, destruction, misery and trauma and the affected victims really get into unacceptable miserable situation and that there are many States which suffer from disaster as defined under the Act, that, eventually, leads to economic disaster which would include disaster in the sphere of agriculture. He, hence, prayed that a concrete National Plan be formulated to deal with the post disaster situation that has social and economical impact, especially in respect of the people who belong to socially extremely vulnerable sections including agriculturists.
The Court, hence, directed the Union of India and the States to submit an affidavit showing whether there is any approved plan that frames minimum standards of relief for victims of disaster. The Court also directed the N.D.M.A. to communicate to the concerned Chief Secretaries of the States where the districts in respect of which the plans have not been drawn up and to see to it that the plans are drawn up as stipulated under Section 31 of the Act. [Gaurav Kumar Bansal v. Union of India, 2016 SCC OnLine SC 294, decided on 05.04.2016]
