A High-Level Committee, under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah has approved a number of disaster mitigation and capacity building projects for various states. The meeting of HLC comprising of Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice Chairman NITI Aayog as members held in New Delhi today. The High-Level 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 Yuva Aapda Mitra Scheme in all the 28 states.

To fulfill Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of disaster resilient India, Ministry of Home Affairs under the guidance of Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah has taken several initiatives to ensure effective management of disasters in the country. A number of steps have been taken to prevent any extensive loss to life and property during disasters by strengthening disaster risk reduction system in India.

The High-Level Committee in today’s meeting approved six project proposals in thestates of Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal and Maharashtra at a total cost of Rs. 2514.36 crore for Urban Flood Management in sixmetrocities, namely Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad andPune.  Earlier, HLC, on 27^th November 2023, had approved the Project proposal for integrated solutions for flood management for the state of Tamil Nadu in Chennai city at a cost of Rs. 561.29 crore.

HLC also approved three project proposals under the scheme for “Expansion and Modernization of Fire Services in the states” for the Assam, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu of a total outlay of Rs. 810.64 crore.Central Government has allocated a total amount of Rs. 5000 crore under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for this scheme, and had already approved the proposals of 11 states at a total outlay of Rs. 1691.43 crore.

In addition, 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 MitigationProject will provide necessary impetus to these four states in taking 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. This is in line with the vision of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, of preparing the community as first responders during any disaster. Earlier, the Government has implemented“ Aapda Mitra”, 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’ are playing an important role in assisting the local administration in responding to any disaster.

During the current financial year, Central Government has released Rs 6348 crores to 14 states under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and Rs672 crores to 06 states under State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF). In addition, an amount of Rs. 4265 crore has been released to 10 states under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

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RK/VV/ASH/PS