Over Rs 17,000 cr given to states as disaster relief last yr: Govt

New Delhi: The Centre released over Rs 17,000 crore as assistance to states affected by natural calamities like floods, cyclone and drought last year, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba said on Tuesday.

He also said the central government has sanctioned additional battalions of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) which are being raised in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi-NCR.

The Centre released more than Rs 7,000 crore under the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) and an additional Rs 10,000 crore under the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) last year to the states as disaster relief, said Gauba in his inaugural address at the annual conference of relief commissioners and secretaries here.

He asked the states and the Union Territories to step up their preparedness by advance planning and deployment of human, physical and financial resources ahead of the monsoon season. In the meeting, which reviewed the preparedness for the South-West Monsoon-2019, the Union home secretary said the Centre would provide all possible assistance under the NDRF and the SDRF besides mobilisation

of central forces to the states and the UTs. Gauba said during the recent cyclone 'Fani', loss of human lives was minimal due to accurate and early weather forecasting by the IMD.