Centre Approves Rs 1,115 Crore To States For Disaster Mitigation And Preparedness

The Centre has approved Rs 1,115.67 crore for various disaster mitigation and capacity-building projects in 15 states. The high-level committee, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has also approved another project for training and capacity building of civil defence volunteers in all states and Union territories at a total outlay of Rs 115.67 crore, according to an official statement on Tuesday.

The central government allocated Rs 139 crore each to Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, Rs 100 crore to Maharashtra, and Rs 72 crore each to Karnataka and Kerala. Tamil Nadu and West Bengal will receive Rs 50 crore each, while the eight Northeastern states, including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Manipur, have been granted Rs 378 crore in total.

The committee, comprising Union ministers for finance and agriculture and the vice chairman of the NITI Aayog as members, considered the proposal to mitigate landslide risk in 15 states for funding from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund or NDMF.

Earlier, the committee approved Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Projects in seven cities at a total outlay of Rs 3,075.65 crore and Glacial Lake Outburst Flood risk management projects in four states at a total outlay of Rs 150 crore from the NDMF.

To fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of disaster resilient India, the Ministry of Home Affairs under the guidance of Shah has taken several initiatives to ensure effective management of disasters in the country, the statement said.

Several steps have been taken to prevent any extensive loss of life and property during disasters by strengthening the disaster risk reduction system in India, it said.

The central government has already released more than Rs 21,476 crore to the states during this year. This includes Rs 14,878.40 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund to 26 states, Rs 4,637.66 crore from the NDRF to 15 states, Rs 1,385.45 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund to 11 states and Rs 574.93 crore from NDMF to six states.