MHA Notifies Heatwaves and Lightning as Disasters

India adds heatwaves and lightning to the list of notified natural disasters through operational guidelines regulating the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for 2026-31.

Notified Disasters, SDRF, and NDRF (2026-31 Guidelines):

Dimension	Key Details
Notified disaster list	India’s list of notified natural disasters comprises 14 disasters.
Newly added notified disasters	The notified natural disaster list comprises two newly included items: heatwaves and lightning.
Earlier notified disaster categories (12)	The earlier notified disaster list comprises 12 categories: cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloudburst, pest attack, and frost/cold wave.
Earlier heatwave relief financing rule	The earlier arrangement mandates state-level notification of heatwaves and applies a cap of 10% of annual SDRF allocation for heatwave relief.
Access to funds after notification	The notification authorises States to draw on the full SDRF and mitigation funds for heatwave and lightning-related relief, and authorises NDRF support when State funds are inadequate.
Legal basis	SDRF and NDRF are established under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
Replacement provision	The Disaster Management Act, 2005 provides for replacement of the old National Calamity Contingency Fund in 2010 through SDRF and NDRF arrangements.
SDRF role	SDRF provides for fast, local help by States for notified disasters, and it is the primary fund available with state governments for responses to notified disasters.
SDRF permitted expenditure	SDRF mandates expenditure only for providing immediate relief to victims, and mandates that it does not provide property or crop loss compensation.
Central contribution to SDRF	The SDRF funding pattern comprises Central Government contribution of 75% for general category States/UTs and 90% for special category States/UTs.
Special category States/UTs (for SDRF share)	The special category States/UTs comprise NE States, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir.
NDRF role	NDRF provides for supplementing a State’s SDRF in a disaster of severe nature when adequate funds are not available in the SDRF.
NDRF financing and accounting	NDRF is governed by a financing arrangement comprising full financing by the Central Government, primarily through specific cesses and duties, and maintenance in the Public Account of India under non-interest-bearing reserve funds to enable access without extra parliamentary approval.
MoHFW heat-health programme linkage	Heat-health interventions are governed by the National Programme on Climate Change & Human Health (NPCCHH) in accordance with the National Action Plan on Heat-Related Illness (NAPHRI).
Heat illness and death surveillance	The National Heat-Related Illness and Death Surveillance (NHRIDS) has been activated for over 51,000 reporting units across the country, comprising all Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and higher-level hospitals.