Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced three major schemes worth over Rs 8,000 crore that would cover the modernisation of fire brigade services in all states, flood mitigation in seven major cities and prevention of landslides in 17 states.
He was addressing a meeting of the ministers of disaster management of states and Union Territories in New Delhi.
Shah also appealed to ensure there is zero loss of life due to any disaster anywhere in the country. “For the modernisation and expansion of fire brigade services, about Rs 5,000 crore worth assistance will be given to all states. We have prepared a detailed plan and will be forwarded to you. To mitigate the danger of floods in urban areas, in seven major cities – Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune – Rs 2,500 crore will be disbursed. Its detailed plan will be sent to you. To deal with landslides in 17 states, almost Rs 825 crore will be given by the central government,” he said.
Shah said that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has visited the states where seven nuclear power stations are being built and it has sent a strict protocol for these states to adopt so as to avert any incident of possible disaster.
Shah warned that though the central government, along with the states, has made a lot of achievements towards disaster management, no one should be complacent because disasters keep constantly changing their nature and their intensity is increasing. “That is why we all have to keep expanding our preparations. Disaster management is not a new concept in our country. There are documents on disaster management in Chanakya’s ‘Arthashastra’ or in the works of state administration of mythological times,” he said.
Shah highlighted that one lakh youth volunteers are being trained to deal with calamities in 350 disaster-prone districts under the ‘Aapda Mitra’ scheme, which has yielded good results.
