A high-level Committee Chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday approved projects for disaster recovery and reconstruction activities for Sikkim and for strengthening of fire services in five states.
The committee, comprising of Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice Chairman NITI Aayog as members considered these proposals for financial assistance to the states from Recovery and Reconstruction funding window and Preparedness and Capacity Building Funding Window under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), a Home Ministry statement said.
The committee approved projects of Rs1,604.39 crore for five states — Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Kerala — under the scheme “Expansion and Modernization of Fire Services in the states”.
The panel approved Rs 340.90 crore for Bihar, Rs 339.18 crore for Gujarat, Rs 147.97 crore for Jharkhand, Rs162.25 crore for Kerala and Rs 614.09 crore for Maharashtra for funding from earmarked allocation of preparedness and capacity building funding window under NDRF.
The Central Government has allocated a total amount of Rs 5,000 crore under NDRF for “Expansion and Modernization of Fire Services in the states”, and had already approved the proposals of 20 states for a total of Rs 3,373.12 crore.
Moreover, the committee has also approved financial assistance of Rs 555.70 crore to Sikkim from recovery and reconstruction funding window under NDRF for disaster recovery and reconstruction needs of various sectors affected due to devastating Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) occurred in the downstream along the Teesta river basin in October, 2023.
During the current financial year, the Union Government has released Rs 19,074.80 crore to 28 states under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and Rs 3,229.35 crores to 16 states under State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF).
Besides, an amount of Rs 5,160.76 crore has been released to 19 states under the NDRF and Rs 719.71 crore to eight states under the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF).
