High-Level Committee Approves ₹4,645.60 Crore for Disaster Mitigation, Recovery & Reconstruction Across 9 States
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities | SDG 13: Climate Action
Institutions: Ministry of Home Affairs
A High-Level Committee (HLC) chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah has approved projects worth ₹4,645.60 crore for mitigation, recovery and reconstruction across nine states: Assam, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh.
Key approvals include a ₹692.05 cr wetlands restoration initiative in Assam, and Phase-2 of the Urban Flood Risk Management Programme (UFRMP) covering 11 cities at ₹2,444.42 cr. Additional support includes ₹1,270.788 cr for Assam’s recovery and ₹260.56 cr for Kerala’s flood/landslide reconstruction. The HLC also cleared the advance release of ₹24.40 cr as the second installment of the Centre’s share under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for Sikkim (FY 2025–26).
Funding will be through cost-sharing between Centre and states per National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) guidelines (typically 90% central share, 10% state share for UFRMP). The flood resilience programme for Guwahati (₹200 cr) is also part of this package, involving structural and non-structural interventions such as interlinking water bodies, stormwater systems, erosion control, early warning systems, and nature-based solutions.
This package deepens India’s thrust toward disaster resilience, operationalising the NDMF/SDRF framework at scale and anchoring climate adaptation in urban planning and ecosystem restoration. The strategy can strengthen linkages with state disaster management plans, watershed programmes, and city resilience missions.
What is SDRF? → The State Disaster Response Fund is the primary fund available with state governments for meeting expenses on emergency response and relief to natural disasters. Financed by the Centre and states in a 75:25 ratio (90:10 for special category states), SDRF is released in two annual instalments and can be flexibly used for notified disasters like floods, cyclones, droughts, landslides, etc.
What is NDMF? → The National Disaster Mitigation Fund, created under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, finances projects and measures aimed at reducing disaster risk and building resilience (as opposed to immediate relief). It supports activities like flood management, retrofitting of infrastructure, and ecosystem restoration. Unlike SDRF (response-oriented), NDMF is mitigation-focused and usually requires cost-sharing between Centre and states.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders:
How can states expedite design, procurement, and implementation of these approved projects to ensure that communities benefit before the next monsoon or disaster cycle?
Follow the full news here: PIB Press Release ID 2173811