Central govt approves Rs 1280 cr to Bihar, Himachal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry as disaster assistance

New Delhi: A high level committee, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has approved Rs 1280.35 crore of additional central assistance to Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, affected by flood, flash flood, cloudburst, landslides and cyclonic storm in 2024.

Out of the total amount of Rs 1280.35 crore, Rs 588.73 crore has been approved for Bihar, Rs 136.22 crore for Himachal Pradesh, Rs 522.34 crore for Tamil Nadu and Rs 33.06 crore for Puducherry, an official statement said.

This assistance is over and above the funds released by the Centre to the states in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the Union Territorial Disaster Response Fund (UTDRF), already placed at the disposal of the states and the UT.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Government of India is standing shoulder to shoulder with the states of Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory (UT) of Puducherry, who faced natural disasters last year, the statement said.

The committee approved assistance of Rs 1247.29 crore to the three states --” Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu --” from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), subject to an adjustment of 50 per cent of the opening balance for the year available in the SDRF and Rs 33.06 crore to Puducherry.

During FY2024-25, the central government released Rs 20,264.40 crore to 28 states under the SDRF and Rs 5,160.76 crore under the 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 eight states has also been released.

The central government had deputed Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to these states immediately after the calamities without waiting for the receipt of a formal memorandum, the statement said.