#National News: New Delhi, India, June 14, 2023 Disaster management, a priority area of the current dispensation led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his trusted companion Home Minister Amit Shah, will get an Rs 8,000 crore facelift to bring down disaster-related deaths to nought.
Of this, Rs 5,000 crore will be spent on expanding and modernising fire services across states, Home Minister Amit Shah said at a recent meeting with ministers of disaster management of the states and union territories.
Shah also announced that Rs 2,500 crore would be spent for reducing the risk of urban flooding in the seven most populous metros — Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune. Also, an additional Rs 825 crore would be spent towards the National Landslide Risk Mitigation Project for landslide mitigation in 17 states and Union Territories.
Aimed at reducing disaster-related deaths to nil, the Modi-Shah duo have not only increased the allocation of funds multi-fold meant for specialised response to natural and man-made disasters, both at the Centre and the state levels; they have also brought in a drastic change in the approach towards disaster management. Far from being reactionary and relief-centric earlier, they have implemented on the ground a new approach to the early warning system, prevention, mitigation and preparedness-based disaster management.
Funds meant for managing disasters have never been an issue since they took over. Compared with Rs 35,858 crore released to the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) in the nine years of the UPA government between FY06 and FY14, the amount tripled to Rs 1,04,704 crore in the nine years of the NDA government. During the same period, the release of funds from NDRF has been enhanced by nearly three times from Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 77,000 crore.
“Due to the proactive approach, Centre and States have increased budgetary provision in the areas of disaster risk reduction and post-disaster relief and rehabilitation. In 2021, the National Disaster Mitigation Fund was constituted under the Central Government with Rs 16,700 crore and under SDMF Rs 32,000 crore has been kept for mitigation activities,” Shah said at the meeting held in Delhi recently.
India has made immense progress in pruning the number and resultant deaths in the last nine years. While initiatives at the Centre have contributed immensely; states have also done their bit. However, Home Minister Amit Shah is not contended with the vast improvement. Shah would not stop unless disaster-related deaths come down to zero.
“All of us together, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji, all the chief ministers are working on the ground. We will have to work more and march ahead forward,” he said, asking states where seven nuclear power stations are being built to adopt the required disaster prevention measures before commissioning those plants with utmost priority.
Disaster management is not a new concept in India. Shreds of evidence are there in Chanakya’s Arthashastra and also in mythology. India, as a whole, did an exemplary job during the Covid-19 pandemic. The entire world took note. Shah asked states to enhance their budgetary provision for extending higher compensation to the farmers in case of a natural disaster while promising that the Centre would also do much more. Shah said the model fire Bill; policies towards disaster prevention, thunderstorms and lightning, and the cold wave formulated by the central government must be implemented across the country.
