NEW DELHI: A high-level committee (HLC), led by union home minister Amit Shah, has approved Rs 3,027.86 crore for disaster mitigation projects across multiple states. The committee, which includes the finance minister, agriculture minister, and vice chairman of Niti Aayog, reviewed proposals of a mitigation project on lightning safety aimed at reducing lightning risks in 50 high-risk districts across 10 states, with funding from the national disaster mitigation fund (NDMF).
The high-level committee has sanctioned a project providing catalytic assistance to 12 of the most drought-prone states, with a total budget of Rs 2,022.16 crore, of which Rs 1,200 crore will be contributed by the central government. The beneficiary states include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh.
The committee has approved the mitigation project on lightning safety in 10 states- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, with a total allocation of Rs 186.78 crore.
The union home minister has approved the mitigation scheme for forest fire risk management, which will be implemented across 144 priority districts in 19 states. The project has a total budget of Rs 818.92 crore, with Rs 690.63 crore being contributed from the national disaster mitigation fund (NDMF) and the national disaster response fund (NDRF).
The primary goal of this initiative is to enhance forest fire management by strengthening prevention and mitigation strategies. The states 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 submit proposals outlining essential activities for fire prevention, preparedness, response, and post-fire recovery.
Before these proposals, the high-level committee had sanctioned financial assistance from the NDMF for various projects. These included urban flood risk mitigation projects in seven major cities with a total outlay of Rs 3,075.65 crore, Glof risk management in four states at Rs 150 crore, and landslide risk mitigation in 15 states at Rs 1,000 crore.
Additionally, over Rs 24,981 crore has been disbursed to various states during the current financial year, divided as follows: Rs 17,479.60 crore from the state disaster response fund (SDRF) to 27 states, Rs 4,808.30 crore from the NRDF to 18 states, Rs 1,973.55 crore from the state disaster mitigation fund (SDMF) to 13 states, and Rs 719.72 crore from the national disaster mitigation fund (NDMF) to 8 states.
