
Union Minister JP Nadda hails Centre's approval of disaster relief funds to Himachal, Uttarakhand
New Delhi [India], June 18 (ANI): Union Minister JP Nadda on Wednesday expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the approval of disaster relief funds under the 'Recovery and Reconstruction Plan' to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
'I express my heartfelt gratitude to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for approving the 'Recovery and Reconstruction Plan' of Rs 2006.40 crore as relief amount due to natural calamities like floods in the year 2023,' Nadda said in a post on X.
https://x.com/JPNadda/status/1935222666312696265
Earlier today, a high-level committee chaired by HM Shah approved Rs 2006.40 crore to Himachal Pradesh under the Recovery and Reconstruction Plan, with the Home Ministry's office highlighting that the Centre stands shoulder to shoulder with states in time of natural calamities.
'The financial assistance provided by the Modi government is an important support to the disaster-affected citizens in dealing with the crisis in Devbhoomi and providing relief to the disaster victims. The Modi government stands with the people of Devbhoomi in every crisis and at the same time, is committed as always to provide all possible help to Himachal,' Nadda said in the post.
According to an official statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs, 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 the Recovery and Reconstruction Funding Window under the 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.
The Central Government had approved Recovery plans for the state of Uttarakhand of Rs 1658.17 crore, in the aftermath of the Joshimath subsidence and for Sikkim of Rs 555.27 crore, in the aftermath of the GLOF incident of 2023.
The official statement read, Central Government had approved several mitigation projects with overall financial outlay of Rs 7253.51 crore, for mitigating the risks of several 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)
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 the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to 08 States have also been released. (ANI)
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