Centre approves Rs 4,382 crore for six states affected by cyclone, floods & landslides

In a bid to provide relief to flood-affected states, a High-Level Committee headed by Home Minister Amit Shah has approved additional Central assistance of over 4,381 crores under the National Disaster Response Fund to six states. While India was battling with the COVID pandemic - floods, cyclone, landline wreaked havoc in some parts of the country.

According to a statement issued by the Home Ministry, funds will be released to West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Sikkim. For the cyclone 'Amphan', Rs 2,707.77 crore has been approved for West Bengal and Rs 128.23 crore for Odisha.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra gets Rs 268.69 crore for the cyclone 'Nisarga'. For floods and landslides during the southwest monsoon, Rs 577.84 crore has been approved for Karnataka, Rs 611.61 crore for Madhya Pradesh, and Rs 87.84 crore for Sikkim.
 
 READ: Telangana Congress blames TRS for using flood-relief funds for election campaigning

Following the cyclone Amphan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the affected states of West Bengal and Odisha on May 22 this year and had announced financial assistance of Rs 1000 crore to West Bengal and 500 crore rupees to Odisha. Furthermore, PM Modi had also announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for the next of kin of the dead and 50 thousand rupees for the injured.

Inter-Ministerial Central Teams were also deployed in all six states and during the current financial year, the Central Government has released over 15, 524 crore rupees to 28 states from the State Disaster Response Fund.

READ: Telangana Congress blames TRS for using flood-relief funds for election campaigning

Monsoon fury in India

Cyclone Amphan wreaked havoc in West Bengal and Odisha in May. Amphan was a tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in eastern India and Bangladesh. Following this, Cyclone Nisarga made landfall on the Maharashtra coast near Alibaug, a popular getaway about 100 km from Mumbai, on June 3. Alibaug reported wind speeds of 93 km per hour. Maharashtra on the other hand has also been witnessing incessant rainfall.

Further, Assam also witnessed a devastating flood, which has hundreds of people and over 50 lakh got affected in 30 districts. In an unfortunate incident, extreme rainfall led to a landslide at the Nyamakad estate of the Kannan Devan Hills Plantation Company in August. 

(with inputs from ANI)

READ: Congress accuses TRS of 200-crore scam in distribution of flood relief funds in Telangana

READ: Central team visits Telangana for flood assessment