Natural disaster: five States affected by natural disasters receive additional aid from the Center

The Center has approved over Rs 1,682 crore as additional aid to five states and one union territory which were affected by floods and landslides last year. Approval for additional central assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry has been given by a High Level Committee (HLC) headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The HLC has approved additional central aid of Rs 1,664.25 crore to five NDRF states and Rs 17.86 crore to Pondicherry, an official statement said on Thursday.

While Rs 351.43 crore was approved for Andhra Pradesh, Rs 112.19 crore was given to Himachal Pradesh, Rs 492.39 crore to Karnataka, Rs 355.39 crore to Maharashtra, Rs 352.85 crore in Tamil Nadu and Rs 17.86 crore in Puducherry.

This additional assistance is in addition to the funds released by the Center to the states under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), already made available to the states.

In the financial year 2021-22, the Center released Rs 17,747.20 crore to 28 states in their SDRF and Rs 4,645.92 crore to eight states from the NDRF.

The central government dispatched Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to these states and UT immediately after the calamities, without waiting for the receipt of a memorandum from them, the statement said.