Centre approves Rs 2006.40 crore aid for HP to recover from natural calamities

The Central government approved a financial assistance of Rs 2006.40 crore for Himachal Pradesh for the recovery and reconstruction in the aftermath of natural calamities like floods and landslides in the year of 2023, an official communique said on Wednesday.

A high-level committee, comprising Union Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister, and Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog as members, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, considered the proposal for financial assistance to the state from the Recovery and Reconstruction funding window under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), it said.

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The Central assistance will help Himachal Pradesh carry out the recovery and reconstruction activities in the wake of the damage and destruction caused by floods, cloudbursts, and landslides during the 2023 monsoon.

Rs 1504.80 crore of the fund will be contributed by the Centre from Recovery and Reconstruction Funding Window under National Disaster Response Fund, the official document further elaborated.

Earlier on December 12, 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs approved additional financial assistance of Rs 633.73 crore from the NDRF for Himachal Pradesh.

To fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of disaster-resilient India, the Ministry of Home Affairs has taken several initiatives to ensure effective management of disasters in the country, it added.

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 Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) incident of 2023.

Also, the Modi-led NDA 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 (Rs1000 crore), GLOF (Rs 150 crore), forest fire (Rs 818.92 crore), lightening (Rs. 186.78 crore) and drought (Rs. 2022.16 crore).

During the financial year 2024-25, the Central government 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 8 states have also been released, it added.