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High-level Committee Approves Disaster Mitigation Projects
Context:
A High-Level Committee, chaired by the Union Home Minister, has approved several disaster mitigation and capacity-building projects to enhance disaster resilience in India.
Outcomes of the committee:
- The High-Level Committee considered a total of nine proposals for funding from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) and the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF),
- to combat urban flooding in six cities, mitigate glacial lake outburst Floods (GLOF) in four Hill states, and strengthen Fire Services in three states.
- The committee also considered a proposal to implement Yuva Aapda Mitra Scheme in all the 28 states.
- Urban Flood Management: Rs. 2,514.36 crore for six projects in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Pune.
- Fire Services Expansion and Modernization: Rs. 810.64 crore for Assam, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
- GLOF Risk Mitigation: Rs. 150 crore for Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.
- Yuva Aapda Mitra Scheme (YAMS): Rs. 470.50 crore for training 2.37 lakh volunteers in 315 disaster-prone districts.
- Additionally, the Central Government has released Rs. 6,348 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and Rs. 672 crore under the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) for the current financial year.
Aapda Mitra Scheme :
- NDMA has been implementing a central sector scheme namely Aapda Mitra since May 2016.
- The Scheme for Training of Community Volunteers in Disaster Response (Aapda Mitra).
- Target: 6,000 community volunteers (200 per district) in 30 of the most flood-prone districts across 25 states in India.
- Training Focus: Skills for immediate disaster response, including relief and rescue tasks during emergencies like floods, flash floods, and urban flooding.
Government initiatives for Mitigating and Combating the Disasters:
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- National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF): To provide additional central assistance for severe calamities when the state’s own disaster response resources are insufficient.
- State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF): Used for immediate relief in response to disasters such as cyclones, floods, earthquakes, etc.
- National Disaster Mitigation Fund: To support projects focused exclusively on disaster mitigation.
Disaster Management Act, 2005:
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- According to the act, “disaster” means a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man made causes, or by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area.