New Delhi, January 29 (HS): A high-level committee headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday approved Rs 3027.86 crore for disaster mitigation in various states.

A statement issued in the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday said that this committee, which comprises the Union Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, considered the mitigation project on lightning safety to reduce the risk of lightning in 50 districts of 10 states which are most affected by lightning incidents. Also, the high-level committee also considered proposals for funding from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to provide catalytic assistance to 49 districts of 12 states most affected by drought.

The High Level Committee has approved a project for catalytic assistance to 12 most drought affected states with a total outlay of Rs 2022.16 crore, in which the Central Government's share will be Rs 1200 crore. The 12 states for which this amount has been approved include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

The Committee has also approved a mitigation project on lightning safety at a total cost of Rs 186.78 crore in 10 states. These 10 states include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The Union Home Minister has also approved a mitigation project for forest fire management in 144 high priority districts of 19 states with a total outlay of Rs 818.92 crore. Out of which the central share of National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) will be Rs 690.63 crore. The primary objective of the project is to implement mitigation projects to transform the approach to managing forest fires in the country and to 'build back better'. 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 for reducing forest fires, forest fire preparedness, as well as post-fire assessment and activities required to restore the situation.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar