Calamity of Severe Nature
No specific criterion is given in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) or National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) guidelines for declaring a natural calamity as a calamity of severe nature.
However, based on the intensity and magnitude of losses to life, property and infrastructure caused by the natural calamity, or when the situation caused by a calamity becomes unprecedented, beyond the coping capacity of the State Government and extremely difficult to handle through a normal rescue and relief operation, the Central government treats it as a calamity of severe nature. This is mostly based on the recommendations of the Inter Ministerial central Team (IMCT), made in its report based on field observations subsequent to the said natural calamity.
Any notified calamity of a severe nature will qualify for assistance from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). Para 3.1 of the Government Guidelines states as follows:
3.1 Natural calamities of cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloud burst and pest attack considered to be of severe nature by Government of India and requiring expenditure by a State Government in excess of the balances available in its own State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), will qualify for immediate relief assistance from NDRF.
Alternatively speaking, any calamity which gets assistance from NDRF can be treated as a calamity of a severe nature.
Also See