NEW DELHI, Jan 29: A High-Level Committee (HLC), led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, approved ₹3027.86 crore for disaster mitigation initiatives across various states on Wednesday.
This committee, which includes the Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister, and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, reviewed proposals aimed at enhancing safety measures against lightning in 50 districts prone to intense lightning across 10 states, as well as providing catalytic aid to 49 districts in 12 of the most drought-affected states from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF), according to a statement from the Home Ministry.
The committee sanctioned a total of ₹2022.16 crore for catalytic assistance to the 12 drought-prone states, with the central share amounting to ₹1200 crore. The affected states are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh.
Additionally, the committee approved a lightning safety mitigation project in 10 states, totaling ₹186.78 crore for Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
Shah also approved a forest fire risk management mitigation scheme for implementation in 144 high-priority districts across 19 states, with a total budget of ₹818.92 crore. Of this amount, ₹690.63 crore will come from the central share through NDMF and NDRF.
The main goal of this scheme is to overtake forest fire management in the country, enhancing crucial forest fire prevention and mitigation activities.
States including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttarakhand will present their proposals for necessary actions to mitigate forest fires, improve preparedness for responses, and facilitate post-fire assessments and recovery.
Prior to these approvals, the HLC had also authorized financial aid from NDMF for various projects, such as Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Projects in seven major cities, with a total outlay of ₹3075.65 crore, GLOF Risk Management in four states awarded ₹150 crore, and Landslide Risk Mitigation in 15 states totaling ₹1000 crore.
In total, over ₹24,981 crore has already been allocated to states in the current financial year. This includes ₹17479.60 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to 27 states, ₹4808.30 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to 18 states, ₹1973.55 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 13 states, and ₹719.72 crore from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to eight states.
(UNI)
