High-level Committee approves Rs 725 cr fire services projects for Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bengal

New Delhi, Nov 11 (Agency) A high-level committee, under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday approved three projects of Rs 725.62 crore under “Expansion and Modernization of Fire Services in the states” for Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal.According to a Home Ministry statement, the committee has approved Rs 147.76 crore for Chhattisgarh, Rs 201.10 crore for Odisha and Rs 376.76 crore for West Bengal.The high-level committee comprised of Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice Chairman NITI Aayog as members.To fulfil the government’s vision of disaster resilient India, the Home Ministry has taken several initiatives to ensure effective management of disasters in the country.

Several steps have been taken to prevent any extensive loss to life and property during disasters by strengthening disaster risk reduction system in India.The Central Government has allocated a total of Rs 5000 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for “Expansion and Modernization of Fire Services in the states”, proposals of 15 states at a total outlay of Rs 2542.12 crore had already been approved, the statement added.More than Rs 21,026 crore has already been released to the states during this year. This include Rs 14,878.40 crore from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to 26 States, Rs 4,637.66 crore from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to 15 States, Rs 1,385.45 crore from State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 11 States and Rs 124.93 crore from National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to three states.