The Disaster Management Act, 2005 stated that a calamity/catastrophe whose magnitude is high, can be natural or manmade is called a disaster.
A natural disaster is considered a calamity which is caused by nature, rather than humans which leads to great loss of lives or destruction of properties & environment.
A disaster can occur due to negligence or accident, while a natural disaster includes floods, cyclone, landslide, urban flood, tsunami or earthquake.
A man-made disaster can be biological, chemical, or nuclear, but in India, there is no official provision on both definitions.
Natural disaster can be a result of weather or climate event or a landslide, and others, it can take place anywhere on the planet.
In case of defining a ‘National Calamity’, the 10th Finance Commission, included factors like magnitude, kind of help needed, state’s ability to tackle the severity.
At present, cyclones, drought, earthquakes, floods, fires, tsunamis, landslides, hailstorms, cloudbursts, avalanches, frosts, and cold waves are disasters.
These are covered by State Disaster Response Funds, with the Central govt contributing 75% of the fund.
Some states demanded the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to add lightening to the list of natural disasters as it causes the most deaths in India.