Lok Sabha Question No. 398 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-22
Subject: Prevention of Losses from Natural Disasters
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Brijendra Singh Ola

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 398

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22 ND  JULY, 2025/ /ASHADHA 31, 1947 (SAKA)

PREVENTION OF LOSSES FROM NATURAL DISASTERS

†398. SHRI BRIJENDRA SINGH OLA:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken/proposes to take steps to expand and modernize  service  to  prevent  or  reduce  the  problems  of  disasters  like landslides and floods etc.;

- (b) if so, the details of the steps taken under any scheme and the amount allocated and spent in respect thereof;

(c) the efforts being made by the Government to reduce disaster risks such as landslides and floods etc. at the level of Gram Panchayat in the country including Rajasthan State;

(d) if so, the efforts being made; and

(e) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI NITYANAND RAI)

(a) to (e): The primary responsibility for disaster management rests with the State Governments concerned. The Central Government supplements the efforts of the State Governments and provides requisite logistics and financial support.  There are well established institutional mechanisms at the National, State &  District  levels  in  the  country for taking appropriate

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 398 FOR 22.07.2025

preparedness,  mitigation  and  prompt  response  measures  for  effective management of natural disasters.

The Central Government has taken several initiatives to ensure effective mitigation  measures  in  the  country  to  reduce  risks  during  disasters  by strengthening the disaster risk reduction system in India.  In this direction, important  initiatives  taken  and  important  projects  approved  by  Central Government are as under: -

- (i) The National Landslide Risk Mitigation project with a total financial outlay of Rs. 1000 crore for its implementation in fifteen (15) States, with Central Share from NDMF of Rs. 900 Crore. These 15 States are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. So far, an amount of Rs. 4.54 crore is released to the State of Uttarakhand.
- (ii) Prior  to  this,  in  2019,  Government  had  approved  Landslide  Risk Mitigation  Scheme  (LRMS)  for  four  (04)  States  viz.  Sikkim,  Mizoram, Nagaland  and  Uttarakhand  with  central  assistance  Rs.  43.91  Crore.  The major  outcomes  of  the  scheme  include  landslide  mitigation,  real  time monitoring, awareness programmes and capacity building & training .

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 398 FOR 22.07.2025

(iii) Geological Survey of India (GSI) has established the National Landslide Forecasting Centre (NLFC) at Kolkata to cater to  the real-time integration of diverse input data from multiple sources like Indian Meteorological  Department  (IMD),  National  Centre  for  Medium  Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), National Remote sensing Centre (NRSC) for forecasting and dissemination of the landslide early warning bulletins through dedicated means including Bhusanket web portal and Bhooskhalan mobile app, etc.

- (iv) To reduce the risk of landslides, GSI developed a prototype regional Landslide Early Warning System (LEWS) for India in collaboration with the British Geological Survey (BGS). The evaluation and testing of the model in three  districts  in  India  viz.  Darjeeling  and  Kalimpong  districts  of  West Bengal and Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu has been initiated.
- (v) GSI has been providing experimental landslide forecast bulletins in 18 districts in six other states, in collaboration with various stakeholders like Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) and all concerned State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs). These bulletins have forecast information up to the taluk / sub-divisional level.

(vi) Urban  Flood Risk Mitigation Projects in seven  (07) cities viz. Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune at a total financial outlay of Rs. 3075.65 crore.  Central Share from NDMF is Rs 2482.62 Crore. So far, an amount of Rs. 709.54 Crore is released to these seven cities.

(vii) National  GLOF  Risk  Management  Programme  with  a  total  financial outlay  of  Rs.  150  crore  for  its  implementation  in  four  (04)  States  viz. Arunachal  Pradesh,  Himachal  Pradesh,  Sikkim  and  Uttarakhand.  Central Share from NDMF is Rs. 135 Crore and so far, an amount of Rs. 27.73 Crore is released.

(viii) Catalytic assistance for twelve (12) drought prone States at a total financial outlay of Rs. 2022.16 crore, out of which, Central share from NDMF is  Rs.  1200  crore.    These  12  states  are  Andhra  Pradesh,  Bihar,  Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

(ix) Mitigation Project on Lightning Safety at a total financial outlay of Rs. 186.78 crore for ten (10) States viz. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya  Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Central Share from NDMF for Lightning Safety is Rs. 121.14 Crore.

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 398 FOR 22.07.2025

(x) Mitigation Project for Forest Fire Risk Management for its implementation in 144 high-priority  districts  in  nineteen  (19)  States  at  a total financial outlay of Rs. 818.92 crore, under which central share from NDMF & NDRF is Rs. 690.63 Crore. The states identified for the scheme are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala,  Manipur,  Maharashtra, Mizoram,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Meghalaya,  Nagaland,  Odisha,  Tamil  Nadu, Telangana and Uttarakhand.

(xi) For  timely  dissemination  of  early  warning  alerts  to  people,  Central Government  has  commissioned  Common  Alerting  Protocol  (CAP)  based Integrated  Alert  System  (SACHET).  CAP  Platform  integrates  all  alert generating  agencies  viz.  India  Meteorological  Department  (IMD),  Central Water  Commission  (CWC),  Indian  National  Centre  for  Ocean  Information Services (INCOIS), Defence Geo-informatics Research Establishment (DGRE), Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Forest Survey of India (FSI) with all State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs), which are enabled to issue geo-targeted alerts / warning in regional vernacular by SMS, Mobile App, Browser Alerts, RSS feed and also over GAGAN and NavIC Satellite terminals.

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 398 FOR 22.07.2025

CAP platform has been used to disseminate alerts by State Governments / UT  administration.  This  system  has  been  successfully  used  in  recent disasters. More than 6400 crore SMS alerts have been disseminated so far using CAP.

(xii) Central Government has also implemented Aapda Mitra scheme, under which  1,00,000  community  volunteers  have  been  trained  in  disaster response, covering 350 Districts (including training of 4700 volunteers from 13 Districts of Rajasthan), which are prone to landslide, cyclone, earthquake, and floods.

(xiii) Central Government has also launched 'Yuva Aapda Mitra Scheme' (YAMS) in the year 2024-25 to train 2,37,326 volunteers from National Cadet Core (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and Bharat Scouts & Guides (BS&G) (including 12650 volunteers from 13 Districts of Rajasthan) in disaster response covering 315 Districts in  the  country  which  are  prone  to  landslide, cyclone,  earthquake,  and floods.

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 398 FOR 22.07.2025

Awareness  Generation  and  Capacity  Building  component  are  one  of  the major components of such mitigation programmes. Under National Landslide Risk Mitigation Project, there is a sub-component titled ' Sensitization Programmes  for communities and the Panchayat Raj Institution members including creation of a village task force in landslideprone areas ' for which Rs. 14 crore is allocated.  Under Mitigation Scheme for  Forest Fire Risk Management, Rs. 22 crore is allocated for equipping village  panchayats  with  basic  equipment  and  fire-fighting  skills  in  144 identified  districts  of  19  States.    Under  Mitigation  Project  on  Lightning Safety, there is a sub-component for Master Training Programme for Gram Panchayat, members of Task force of Gram Panchayat and village for which Rs. 1.5 crore is allocated. Similarly, capacity building at local level is one of the  components  of  Catalytic  assistance  for  twelve  (12)  drought  prone States programme.  For the State of Rajasthan, an amount of Rs. 2.00 crore is allocated fo r farmers' training and awareness on drought proofing of the agriculture sectors.

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