GUWAHATI: Driven by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for a disaster-resilient India, the Ministry of Home Affairs has introduced several measures to improve disaster management in the country.
The meeting of the high-level committee, comprising Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and NITI Aayog vice-chairman Suman Bery as members, was held in New Delhi on Thursday.
The committee gave its nod to nine proposals for funding from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) and the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
During the meeting, the high-level committee approved three project proposals under the scheme for ‘Expansion and Modernisation of Fire Services in the states’ for Assam, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu of a total outlay of Rs 810.64 crore.
The Centre has allocated a total amount of Rs 5,000 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for this scheme and already approved the proposals of 11 states at a total outlay of Rs 1691.43 crore.
Besides, the high-level committee also approved a project proposal for GLOF risk mitigation for the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh at a total outlay of Rs 150 crore.
The GLOF Risk Mitigation Project will provide necessary impetus to these four states in taking necessary mitigation measures to address GLOF risks.
The committee also approved a proposal of Yuva Aapda Mitra Scheme (YAMS) at an outlay of Rs 470.50 crore from NDRF, which will be implemented in 315 most disaster-prone districts of the country for training volunteers in disaster preparedness and response.
Among the proposals approved include six projects in Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal and Maharashtra at a total cost of Rs 2514.36 crore for urban floor management.
The six cities where the funds will be spent are Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune, according to an official statement.
During the current financial year, the Central government has released Rs 6,348 crore to 14 states under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and Rs 672 crore to six states under the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF).
In addition, an amount of Rs 4,265 crore has been released to 10 states under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
