A high-level committee (HLC) headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah has approved Rs 3,027.86 crore for disaster mitigation projects for various states. The committee, comprising the Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, considered the proposals for mitigation project on lightning safety and catalytic assistance to 49 districts in 12 most drought-affected states for funding from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to reduce the risk of lightning strikes in 50 heavy lightning districts of 10 states. The high-level committee has approved a project for catalytic assistance of Rs 2,022.16 crore to the 12 most drought-hit states, of which the Centre's share will be Rs 1,200 crore.
The committee has also approved mitigation projects on electrical safety in 10 states at a total outlay of Rs 186.78 crore for Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Home Minister Amit Shah has also approved the mitigation plan for forest fire risk management in 144 high priority districts of 19 states at a total outlay of Rs 818.92 crore, out of which the central share from NDMF and NDRF will be Rs 690.63 crore. The primary objective of the scheme will be to implement the mitigation project to change the forest fire management approach in the country so as to strengthen and support critical forest fire prevention and mitigation activities.
The states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttarakhand will submit their proposals on forest fire mitigation, preparedness for forest fire preparedness as well as post-fire assessment and rescue activities. These include Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Projects in seven major cities at a total expenditure of Rs. 3,075.65 crore, GLOF Risk Management in four States at a total expenditure of Rs. 150 crore and Landslide Risk Mitigation in 15 States at a total expenditure of Rs. 1,000 crore.