Centre sanctions Rs 1,000 crore outlay for disaster mitigation projects in 15 states

New Delhi(The Uttam Hindu): The Centre has approved an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore for various disaster mitigation and capacity-building projects to tackle natural calamities in 15 states, according to an official statement.

A sum of Rs 139 crore each was approved for Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, Rs 100 crore for Maharashtra, Rs 72 crore each for Karnataka and Kerala, Rs 50 crore each for Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, and Rs 378 crore for the eight Northeastern states -- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.

The decision was taken by a high-level committee headed by Home Minister Amit Shah with Union Ministers for finance and agriculture and the vice chairman of the NITI Aayog as members. They considered the proposal to mitigate landslide risk in 15 states for funding from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF).

The committee also gave the go-ahead to a 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. The funding window of the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) will be used to finance the project.

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 (GLOF) 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 has taken several initiatives to ensure effective management of disasters in the country,” the statement said.

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

Under the Modi government, more than Rs 21,476 crore has already been released to the states during this year. This includes Rs 14,878.40 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) 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, the statement added.