 bill no  25 of  2009 the citizens affected by cyclone, super cyclone or tsunami in coastal areas (compensation, rehabilitation and welfare) bill, 2009 byshri baijayant panda, mp a billto provide for the protection of citizens living in coastal areas affected by cyclone or super cyclone or tsunami or any other natural calamity in the coastal areas of the country by providing adequate compensation, rehabilitation and welfare measures and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixtieth year of the republic of india as follows:—definitions2  in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—5(a) "affected citizen" means any citizen who loses his life or receives physical injuries or whose property, movable or immovable, including standing crops in fields, orchard, livestock, poultry and animal rearing farm, machinery, fishing instruments, boat, tools, consumer goods, business establishments is either lost or washed away or is damaged in any manner or is adversely affected by cyclone, super cyclone or tsunami or any such other natural calamity in the coastal area;(b) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state the government of that state and in other cases the central government;10(c) "commissioner" means the commissioner appointed under section 4; (d) "fund" means the coastal areas natural calamity assistance fund established under section 3; and(e) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act153 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a fund to be called the coastal areas natural calamity assistance fund for the purpose of this actconstitution of the coastal areas natural calamity assistance fund(2) the initial corpus of the fund established under sub-section (1) shall be five thousand crore rupees of which,20(i) four thousand five hundred crore rupees shall be provided by the central government after due appropriation made by parliament in this behalf; and(ii) five hundred crore rupees shall be provided by the state governments concerned in such manner as may be prescribed25(3) the central government shall, from time to time, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, provide such amount as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of this act(4)  such other sums as may be received by way of donation, contribution or assistance from individuals, organisations or otherwise shall also be credited to the fund4  (1) the appropriate government shall, as soon as may be, after the commencement of this act, appoint a commissioner in such manner as may be prescribed30commissioner to settle claims(2) the commissioner appointed under sub-section (1) shall be provided with such other staff as may be necessary for assisting him in the efficient discharge of his duties under this act(3) the commissioner shall be responsible for settling the claims of compensation of the affected citizens in such manner as may be prescribed:35provided that the claim of compensation under this act shall be settled by the commissioner, as soon as may be, but not later than three months of the occurrence of the cyclone or super cyclone or tsunami or any other natural calamity405 (1) every affected citizen shall apply for compensation in the prescribed form to the commissioner who shall after such inquiry as he deems necessary, subject to the provisions of section (4), settle the claim of compensationcompensation to affected citizens of coastal areas(2) the affected citizen shall be paid compensation in the following manner:—(i) in case of loss of life, a compensation of not less than four lakh rupees to thenext of kin of the victim within thirty days from the date of submission of application;5(ii) in case of severe injury leading to incapacitation of the victim, medicaltreatment free of cost till such period as is necessary for fullest possible recovery and payment of such amount in compensation as, in the opinion of the commissioner, is necessary for his rehabilitation;(iii) in case of damage to the dwelling unit, repair of the dwelling unit, if viableor construction of a new dwelling unit preferably at the same place;10(iv) in case of damage to the cultivable land or otherwise, providing similarareas of cultivable land or otherwise at a reasonable distance from the place of residence;(v) in case of damage to the standing crops, adequate compensation in proportionto the losses suffered by such citizen; and15(vi) in case of loss of livestock adequate compensation for such losses in suchmanner as may be prescribedspecial provision for traditional fishermen206 (1) any affected citizen covered under this act who is also a traditional fisherman shall, in addition to the compensation provided under section 5, also be given adequate financial assistance for the purchase or repair of fishing net, boat and other necessary fishing equipments by the appropriate government in such manner as may be prescribed(2) adequate compensation shall also be paid to the family of those traditional fishermen who go missing or are swept away by the water currents or disappear in a cyclone, super cyclone, tsunami or natural disturbances in the sea, as the case may be, by the appropriate government in such manner as may be prescribed25miscellaneous provisions7 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, in consultation with thegovernments of those states having coastal areas within their territorial jurisdiction, by notification in the official gazette, prepare a long term special development plan for the coastal areas of the country which are prone to and are frequently devastated by cyclones, super cyclones, tsunami and other natural disturbances in the sea30(2) without prejudice to the generality of the provisions contained in sub-section (1),the special development plan may also include,—(a) installation of early warning system at conspicuous places throughout thecoastal belt of the country and in particular in coastal areas of the state of orissa;35(b) construction of security wall in coastal belts which are more vulnerable tocyclone, super cyclone, tsunami and other natural disturbances in the sea;(c) introduction of low-cost and high waves resisting housing techniques which can withstand the fury of cyclone, super cyclone, tsunami and other natural disturbances of the sea in the coastal areas; and(d) such other provisions as the central government may deem necessary for the development of coasted areas and prevention of soil erosion40power to remove difficulties8 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the central government may make such order and give such directions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appears to it to be necessary or expedient for the removal of such difficulty459 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other law for the time being in force, regulating any of the matters dealt with in this actact to supplement other laws power to make rules10  (1) the central government may, by  notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonsour country has a very long coastal belt spread in the eastern, western and southern parts which are prone to various types of natural calamities mostly generating from the sea in the recent past, orissa was devastated by super cyclone killing thousands of people and causing extensive damage to the buildings, houses, business establishments and dwelling units, standing crops, livestock, cultivable lands, roads, bridges and other movable properties the state is yet to fully recover from such a large scale devastation the coastal areas of orissa also witness the fury of cyclones very frequently which is one of the causes of its backwardness the coastal areas of andaman and nicobar islands, tamil nadu, puducherry and andhra pradesh recently witnessed massive damages caused by tsunami sea storms during moonlit nights are of very common occurrence in coastal areas cyclones, super cyclones, tsunami and other disturbances in the sea not only cause extensive damage in the coastal areas, but also take away precious human lives and cause massive soil erosion this has contributed to the backwardness of the coastal areasthough it is not possible to stop cyclones, super cyclones, tsunami and other natural disturbances in the sea and their adverse effects on the coastal areas but with concerted efforts it is possible to minimize the miseries of the affected citizens by providing them with timely compensation and undertaking rehabilitation measures the central government has to play a key role in this regard and many a time delay is caused in securing relief due to procedural wrangles it is felt that if a permanent coastal areas natural calamity assistance fund is created and administered, the delays and miseries can be minimized the bill seeks to ensure immediate relief to the affected citizens of coastal areas in case of natural calamities the bill also provides for a long term development plan for the coastal areashence this billnew delhi;baijayant pandajune 5, 2009 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the establishment of the coastal areas natural calamity assistance fund for which central government has to provide four thousand five hundred crore rupees initially and thereafter as per the need of the fund clause 4 provides for the appointment of a commissioner for settlement of compensation claims of affected citizens clause 5 provides for the amount of compensation to be paid to the affected citizens clause 6 provides for additional financial assistance to the fishermen the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india apart from the initial four thousand five hundred crore rupees which is to be included in the corpus of the fund, it is not possible at this stage to give an exact estimate of the actual expenditure that may have to be incurred it is, however, estimated that a recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees ten thousand crore would be involved per annuma non-recurring expenditure of about rupees fifteen thousand crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 10 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of detail onlythe delegation of legislative power is, therefore, of a normal character———— a billto provide for the protection of citizens living in coastal areas affected by cyclone, super cyclone or tsunami or any other natural calamity in the coastal areas of the country by providing adequate compensation, rehabilitation and welfare measures and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————gmgipmrnd—2280ls(s5)—23-06-2009