Key Points

The projects will benefit nine States of Assam, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

"To realise Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision of disaster-resilient India, the Ministry of Home Affairs is providing all necessary support to states and UTs," the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

The Committee, comprising the Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice Chairman NITI Aayog as members, 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 of Rs 692.05 crore for the State of Assam. The implementation of this project will enhance wetland capacity, create flood storage, increase flood resilience, protect the aquatic environment and help in economic growth through improved fisheries infrastructure. Out of the total approved outlay of Rs 692.05 crore for the project, the central share will be Rs 519.04 crore (75 per cent) and the state share will be Rs 173.01 crore (25 per cent). This includes projects for mitigation activities towards restoration and rejuvenation of 24 distinct wetlands of nine districts of the Assam state, 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/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 (11) cities, viz. Bhopal, Bhubhaneshwar, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kanpur, Patna, Raipur, Trivandrum, Vishakhapatnam, Indore and Lucknow with a total financial outlay of Rs 2444.42 crore to be funded from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF).

The selection of these 11 cities is on the basis of their status as being the most populous cities/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 a cost-sharing basis between the Centre and the state, as per NDMF guidelines, i.e., 90 per cent from the Centre and 10 per cent from the state.

Additionally, 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 the Urban Flood risk mitigation project for Guwahati cities range 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, etc.

Earlier, the Central Government had approved Urban Flood Risk Management Programmes with a total financial outlay of Rs 3075.65 crore for seven metro cities, namely Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Pune. Further 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 1000 crore), GLOF (Rs 150 crore), Forest Fire (Rs 818.92 crore), Lightning (Rs 186.78 crore) and Drought (Rs 2022.16 crore).

The HLC also approved financial assistance of an amount of Rs 1270.788 crore to the State Government of Assam and Rs 260.56 crore to the State of Kerala for recovery and reconstruction activities/plan for both the states in the aftermath of the flood/landslide incident of 2022 and Wayanad Landslide-2024, respectively. These recovery assistances will help the States of Assam and Kerala in carrying out Recovery and Reconstruction activities, arising due to damage and destruction caused by the flood/landslides of 2022 and the Wayanad landslide of 2024, respectively.

Earlier, the Central Government had approved Recovery and Reconstruction plans for the state of Uttarakhand of Rs 1658.17 crore, in the aftermath of the Joshimath Land Subsidence, for Sikkim of Rs 555.27 crore, in the aftermath of the GLOF incident of 2023 and for Himachal Pradesh of Rs 2006.40 crore in the aftermath of the flood, landslides, and cloudburst incident of 2023.

This additional assistance is over and above the funds released by the Centre to the States in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), already placed at the disposal of the States. During the financial year 2025-26, the Central Government has released Rs 13578.80 crore to 27 States under SDRF and Rs 2024.04 crore to 12 States under NDRF to 12 States.

In addition, the Union Home Minister has approved advance release of Rs 24.40 crore, as 2nd instalment of the Central share of SDRF, to the State Government of Sikkim for the year 2025-26.

Additionally, the Central Government has released Rs 4412.50 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 21 States and Rs 372.09 crore from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to nine states.

- IANS