OUTLOOK INDIA (New Delhi) 28 June 05 Calamity
P K Das Bhubaneswar (PTI): When venomous snakes strike or elephants trample people to death, can they be termed as natural calamities? The Orissa government thinks so.
The state government would request the Centre to put human casualties caused due to snake bite, lightning and sunstroke in the category of natural calamities, Revenue Minister Manmohan Samal told PTI.
Depredation by elephants is yet to be considered as a natural calamity, though there is a provision for payment of compensation by the Environment and Forest Ministry, he said.
The central government's approved list of natural calamities included cyclone, flood, earthquake, drought, hailstorm and fire.
The Orissa government had amended Rules 141 and 254 of the Orissa Relief Code so that ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 could be paid to next of kin of people losing their lives in floods, cyclones, fire and other causes accepted as natural calamity.
"We will demand that deaths caused due to snake bites, depredation by elephants as also lightning be termed natural calamity," Samal said.
Besides, Orissa has been suffering due to intense heat wave sweeping the state during summer in recent years resulting in a large number of sunstroke deaths. This also needed to be counted as a natural calamity, the minister contended.
The state government had pleaded with the Centre to include intense heat wave and cold wave conditions as natural calamities but it had been turned down.
"We have requested the central government to reconsider the matter," he said.
The state had witnessed its worst summer in 1998 when over 2,000 people died due to sun-stroke. The number of casualties was much less at 43 last year but the heat claimed 137 lives till now this summer.
The minister pointed out that the next of kin of people dying of snake bites during floods were paid a compensation of Rs 50,000. But family members of snake bite victims during normal times were paid ex-gratia of only Rs 10,000.
"We feel snake bite victims should be paid a higher compensation round the year."
People affected by floods are forced to take shelter at higher places, mostly roads, highways and river embankments. They face a huge problem as poisonous snakes, swept out of forests by the flood waters.
Calamity