A high-level committee (HLC), chaired by the Union Home Minister, on Thursday approved six proposals of five states, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal and Maharashtra -- for urban flood management at a total cost of ₹2,514.36 crore.
The funds would be utilised for flood management in six metro cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune. Earlier in its meeting on November 27, 2023, the HLC approved the project proposal for integrated solutions for flood management in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, at a cost of ₹561.29 crore, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.
The HLC, comprising of Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice Chairman NITI Aayog as members, overall considered 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 MHA informed.
According to the MHA, the ₹150 crore-worth proposals for GLOF risk mitigation are for Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. The initiative will provide the necessary impetus to these four states in taking necessary mitigation measures to address GLOF risks.
The HLC also approved a proposal for the Yuva Aapda Mitra Scheme (YAMS) at an outlay of ₹470.50 crore from NDRF, which will be implemented in 315 most disaster-prone districts of the country for training of 1,300 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, the Ministry informed.
The MHA stated that this is in line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of preparing the community as first responders during any disaster.
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.
During the current financial year, the Centre has released ₹6,348 crore to 14 states under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and ₹672 crore to 6 states under State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF). In addition, an amount of ₹4,265 crore has been released to 10 states under NDRF.