(PIB)
A High-Level Committee, under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah has approved Rs. 2006.40 crore Central assistance to Himachal Pradesh, for Recovery & Reconstruction plan in the aftermath of flood, landslides, cloudburst incident of 2023. The Committee, comprising of Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice Chairman NITI Aayog as members considered the proposal for financial assistance to the State from Recovery and Reconstruction funding window under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
The High-Level Committee has approved the recovery plan of Rs.2006.40 crore to the State of Himachal Pradesh, which will help the State in carrying out Recovery and Reconstruction activities, arisen due to damage and destruction occurred during 2023 monsoon due to floods, cloudbursts and landslides. Out of this, Rs. 1504.80 crores will be the central share from Recovery and Reconstruction Funding Window under National Disaster Response Fund. Earlier, on December 12, 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs had approved additional financial assistance of Rs. 633.73 crore from the NDRF for Himachal Pradesh, which was affected by this disaster.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Government of India is standing shoulder to shoulder with the state governments during natural calamities and disasters. To fulfill Prime Minister 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 Central Government had approved Recovery plans for the States of Uttarakhand of Rs 1658.17 crore, in the aftermath of Joshimath Subsistence and for Sikkim of Rs 555.27 crore, in the aftermath of GLOF incident of 2023.
Further Central Government had approved a number of mitigation projects with overall financial outlay of Rs 7253.51 crore,for mitigating the risks of a number of hazards in the areas of Urban Floods (Rs. 3075.65 crore), Landslides (Rs.1000 crore), GLOF (Rs. 150 crore), Forest Fire (Rs. 818.92 crore), Lightening (Rs. 186.78 crore) and Drought (Rs. 2022.16 crore).
This additional assistance is over and above the funds released by the Centre to the States in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), already placed at the disposal of the States. During the financial year 2024-25, the Central Government has released Rs. 20,264.40 crore to 28 States under SDRF and Rs. 5,160.76 crore under NDRF to 19 States. Additionally, Rs. 4984.25 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 19 States and Rs. 719.72 crore from National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to 08 States has also been released.
