Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has written a letter to the Centre, urging to consider the COVID-19 pandemic as natural calamity, so that the government can use the state disaster response fund (SDRF) to provide financial assistance to the affected people.

All State Disaster Management Acts have been formed as part of the central disaster management law; hence the state needs the Union government's permission to use the SDRF for helping the pandemic-hit people, a government official said on Thursday.