Centre approves mitigation, recovery, reconstruction projects of Rs 4645.60 crore for nine states

New Delhi [India], October 1 (ANI): The Central government has approved a number of mitigation, recovery, and reconstruction projects with a total outlay of Rs 4645.60 crore to benefit nine states across the country.
The project will benefit the states of Assam, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh.
A High-Level Committee (HLC), under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, approved the project. The Committee, comprising the Finance Minister, the Agriculture Minister, and the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, considered the proposal for financial assistance to the State from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF).
The HLC has approved the restoration and rejuvenation of the wetlands plan, valued at Rs 692.05 crore, for Assam, according to a statement from the Home Ministry.

"The implementation of this project will enhance wetland capacity, create flood storage, increase flood resilience, protect the aquatic environment and will help in economic growth through improved fisheries infrastructure. Out of total approved outlay of Rs 692.05 crore for the project, central share will be Rs 519.04 crore (75 per cent) and state share will be Rs 173.01 crore (25 per cent)," the statement said.
"This includes projects for mitigation activities towards restoration and rejuvenation of 24 distinct wetlands of nine districts of Assam spread across the Brahmaputra river system. Through a number of structural and other measures, this project in Assam will enhance the water retention capacity of wetlands and Beels and will help mitigate the risk of flooding and erosion."
This approval is in line with the Union Home Minister's vision for the development of wetlands for conservation and flood mitigation in Assam. The project's long-term coverage is aimed at the entire length of the Brahmaputra within Assam, and therefore, this project would be taken up as a pilot project to establish a flood-proof Brahmaputra Valley.
The HLC has also approved the Urban Flood Risk Management Programme (UFRMP) Phase-2 for eleven cities-- Bhopal, Bhubhaneshwar, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kanpur, Patna, Raipur, Trivandrum, Vishakhapatnam, Indore and Lucknow-- with a total financial outlay of Rs 2,444.42 crore to be funded from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF).
The selection of these 11 cities is based on their status as the most populous cities and state capitals, primarily prone to floods, as well as consideration of other physical, environmental, socio-economic and hydro-meteorological factors.
The programme will complement the states in mitigating the risk of urban flooding in their cities through uniform structural and non-structural intervention measures.
"The funding pattern will be on cost-sharing between the Centre and State as per NDMF guidelines, such as 90 per cent from the Centre and 10 per cent from the state," the statement read.
Additionally, the statement said, out of the afore-stated 11 cities, the HLC has approved the programme designed for flood mitigation projects of Guwahati city with a total financial outlay of Rs 200 crore, out of which Rs 180 crore will be the central share from NDMF.
"The activities involved for Urban Flood risk mitigation project for Guwahati cities ranges from structural measures of Interlinking of water bodies to Stormwater Management, Construction of flood protection wall, Erosion Control and Soil Stabilisation using Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) etc., as well as non-structural measures such as Flood Early Warning System and Data Acquisition System and capacity building," it stated.
Earlier, the Central government had approved Urban Flood Risk Management Programmes with a total financial outlay of Rs 3,075.65 crore for seven metro cities: Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Pune.
Further, the Central government had also approved a number of mitigation projects for mitigating the risks of a number of hazards in the areas of landslides (Rs 1,000 crore), GLOF (Rs 150 crore), Forest Fire (Rs 818.92 crore), Lightening (Rs 186.78 crore) and Drought (Rs 2,022.16 crore). (ANI)