New Delhi: A High-Level Committee (HLC), under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah today approved several disaster mitigation and capacity-building projects for various states “to ensure” effective management of disasters in the country.
The Committee considered a total of nine proposals for funding from National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to combat Urban Flooding in six cities, to mitigate Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in 4 Hill states and to strengthen Fire Services in 3 states. The committee also considered a proposal to implement the Yuva Aapda Mitra Scheme in all 28 states.
The High-Level Committee in today’s meeting approved six project proposals in the states of Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal and Maharashtra at a total cost of Rs. 2514.36 crore for Urban Flood Management in six metro cities, namely Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune. Earlier, HLC, on November 27, 2023, had approved the Project proposal for integrated solutions for flood management for the state of Tamil Nadu in Chennai city at Rs. 561.29 crore.
HLC also approved three project proposals under the scheme for “Expansion and Modernization of Fire Services in the states” for Assam, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu of a total outlay of Rs. 810.64 crore. The Central Government has allocated a total amount of Rs. 5000 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for this scheme and has already approved the proposals of 11 states at a total outlay of Rs. 1691.43 crore.
In addition, 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 crores. The GLOF Risk Mitigation Project will provide the necessary impetus to these four states to take necessary mitigation measures to address GLOF risks.
HLC also approved a proposal of YuvaAapdaMitra 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 of 1300 trained Aapda Mitra Volunteers as Master Trainers and 2.37 lakh volunteers exclusively from NCC, NSS, NYKS and BS&G (Bharat Scouts &Guides) in disaster preparedness and response.
Earlier, the Government implemented the “ Aapda Mitra”, a scheme under which around 1 lakh community volunteers have been trained for disaster response in 350 most disaster-prone districts of the country. These skilled and trained ‘Apda Mitras’ and ‘Apda Sakhis’ play an important role in assisting the local administration in responding to any disaster.
During the current financial year, the Central Government has released Rs 6348 crores to 14 states under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and Rs672 crores to 06 states under the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF). In addition, an amount of Rs. 4265 crore has been released to 10 states under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
The meeting of HLC comprised of Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice Chairman NITI Aayog as members.
– global bihari bureau
