Twenty States and two Union Territories faced a complete power black out on Tuesday – but this cannot be officially termed as a ‘national disaster’.

At least that is what one can infer from the description of the various types of disasters falling under the ambit of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The authority classifies various types of disasters into two categories, natural and man-made. Man-made disasters are further divided into three sub-categories nuclear, chemical and biological.

So, is the grid failure in northern, eastern and north eastern regions manual or mechanical? The Government has no clear answer to that.

Power Ministry officials suspect that excess withdrawal by some States led to this grid failure. Accordingly, it can be termed as a combination of manual and mechanical. But still it can not fit into the official definition of a disaster.

It may be noted that the Northern Grid serves the nation’s nerve centre Delhi, which faced two grid failures in two successive days. Though the key offices such as the Prime Minister office started getting power immediately through alternative arrangements, the entire northern region which has a long border with Pakistan, had to wait for hours for regular power supply.

On both the days, the Government and power companies were in fire fighting mode to control the situation. But the NDMA, which was set up specifically to ensure a swift and coordinated response to unexpected calamities, was not involved in the effort.

The Government enacted the Disaster Management Act on December 23, 2005.

This envisaged the creation of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), headed by the Prime Minister, and State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) headed by respective Chief Ministers.

These have been created to spearhead and implement a holistic and integrated approach to Disaster Management in India.

> Shishir.sinha@thehindu.co.in

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