Debate over national calamity status for Wayanad Landslide: Calls for clarity

The Central Government faces mounting pressure to provide a clear definition of what constitutes a national calamity.
Over 380 people have died in a landslide in Wayanad, Kerala, six days ago. Rescue operations have been ongoing for eight days, with thousands in relief camps. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, and former MP Rahul Gandhi are urging the landslide to be declared a national calamity. Union Minister Suresh Gobi said the Central Government is exploring legal possibilities. Former Union Minister V. Muralitharan argued that the landslide cannot be declared a national calamity. Further, Muralitharan criticizes Mullapally Ramachandran, a former minister in the previous Congress-led government, for denying the law's authority to declare landslides as national calamities, despite ongoing landslide cases in Wayanad.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin urged declaring Tamil Nadu a national calamity following floods last year, but Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman argued there's no law for such declaration. Discussions continue on national disaster definitions and grammar. Wayanad landslides are a severe disaster, surpassing previous heavy rains and floods in Tamil Nadu and Chennai.
Even as the Central Government faces mounting pressure to provide a clear definition of what constitutes a national calamity, it throws up its hands as it cannot declare Wayanad landslide as a national calamity. In that case, the central government should clarify what constitutes a national calamity with a clear definition.