Why Himanta Biswa Sarma feels "national disaster" tag won't solve Assam's flood problem

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, downplaying calls to declare the floods in Assam as a ‘national problem’, said that he is satisfied with the Centre’s treatment of it as a severe natural calamity as it ensures financial help to mitigate damage.

Responding to a query about the rising demand for the declaration of the Assam flood as a national problem at a presser held at Dispur, the Chief Minister said: “Already it (the flood) has been declared as a severe calamity. The words in the manual are natural calamity and severe natural calamity. So Assam’s flood this year has already been declared as a severe natural calamity. That is why we will get funds, or we will be getting funds.”

Asked about the statewide demand by civil society bodies to declare the floods as a ‘national issue’, Sarma quipped that there is no provision to do so under the Disaster Management Act enacted by the Government of India on 23 December 2005.

“That is a slogan of the civil societies. Call it a slogan, or demand, or emotion, but the government manual does not contain such provisions. It has calamity of severe nature and calamity of less nature,” the Chief Minister added.

“Now, people have said -- call it a national problem. But funds will not be released if it is called a national problem. Funds will be released when it is termed as a severe calamity. Let us assume that it is declared as a national calamity. But what if money is not released?”

“As a declaration (of national problem), it is something of emotional significance to us. But as a Chief Minister, I want a declaration of calamity of severe nature. So that I can get money from the government,” he said, adding: “The law does not state what we will get from that declaration (of national problem). But the law states that if it is declared as a severe calamity, the Central Government will take responsibility.”

States have often demanded natural calamities to be declared as national ones, especially after floods in a region.
In Assam, especially, the apex student body All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has often taken out protests and rallies with the demand that floods be declared a ‘national problem.’

This year's flood in two waves has been the worst in Assam in terms of fatalities (195), while 37 have gone missing.

This year’s flood was considered to be the worst in a decade as the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers along with their tributaries were in spate in 34 affected districts and vast tracts of land remained inundated.