Centre clears fire services projects worth Rs 725 cr for three states

New Delhi : A high-level committee, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Monday approved three projects worth Rs 725.62 crore for the expansion and modernisation of fire services in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal.

The committee has approved Rs 376.76 crore for West Bengal, Rs 201.10 crore for Odisha and Rs 147.76 crore for Chhattisgarh under the 'Expansion and Modernisation of Fire Services' in the states, an official release said.

The high-level committee comprised Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vice Chairman NITI Aayog Suman K Bery as members. To fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a disaster-resilient India, the Ministry of Home Affairs under the guidance of Home Minister Shah has taken several initiatives to ensure effective management of disasters in the country, the release said.

A number of steps have been taken to prevent any extensive loss to life and property during disasters by strengthening the disaster risk reduction system in India. The central government has allocated a total of Rs 5,000 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for 'Expansion and Modernisation of Fire Services' in the states.

Proposals of 15 states with a total outlay of Rs 2,542.12 crore had already been approved. More than Rs 21,026 crore has already been released to the states during this year for various disaster-related aspects.This includes Rs 14,878.40 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to 26 states, Rs 4,637.66 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to 15 states, Rs 1,385.45 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 11 states and Rs 124.93 crore from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to three states, the release said.