Agartala/Kohima: A High-Level Committee (HLC) headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday approved around Rs 460 crore for the northeastern states of Nagaland and Tripura to effectively handle crises triggered by last year’s flood in the two states, an official said.
An official release mentioned that the HLC under the chairmanship of the Home Minister approved Rs 1,554.99 crore of additional Central assistance to five states — Andhra Pradesh (Rs 608.08 crore), Telangana (Rs 231.75 crore), Odisha (Rs 255.24 crore), Nagaland (Rs 170.99 crore) and Tripura (Rs 288.93 crore).
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.
The Central Government has deputed Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to these states, immediately after the calamities, without waiting for the receipt of a formal memorandum.
During August-September last year, catastrophic floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have devastated several northeastern states killing many people and destroying huge properties and crops.
In Nagaland, six persons were killed and many injured after a series of landslides and mudslides blocked at Pherima, Piphema, and Pagala Pahar on September 3.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha earlier said that in last year’s (August) disastrous flood, about 17 lakh people were affected and around four lakh people were shifted to safe shelters and 889 relief camps set up by the government.
At least 38 people lost their lives in the flood and landslides while a total of 58,687 houses were damaged. Due to the devastating flood, the state caused damages of around Rs 15,000 crore, he said.
The approval of the additional funding (Rs 288.93 crore) came after Tripura Chief Minister met with the Union Home Minister in Delhi on February 15 and discussed the extent of the damages caused by the floods and the necessary relief measures required for the affected people of the state.
Expressing his gratitude, the Chief Minister said that additional Central assistance of Rs 288.93 crore has been approved for Tripura in view of the terrible landslides and flood that devastated the state in August last year.
“This additional Central assistance would definitely be a boon to the disaster-affected people in the state. The Rs 288.93 crore allocated to Tripura will undoubtedly help the state to achieve the developmental goals left out due to the Tripura Floods 2024. I wholeheartedly thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and HM Amit Shah for always being with Tripura,” CM Saha wrote on Facebook.
According to the official release of the Ministry of Home Affairs, during the financial year 2024-25, the Central government has released Rs 18,322.80 crore to 27 states in SDRF and Rs 4,808.30 crore from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to 18 states, Rs 2,208.55 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 14 states and Rs 719.72 crore from National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to eight states.
(IANS)
