A high-level committee, under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah has approved three projects of Rs. 725.62 crore under “Expansion and Modernization of Fire Services in the states” for Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal, ministry of home affairs said here in a statement on Monday.

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 committee comprises Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice Chairman NITI Aayog as members.

To fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of disaster resilient India, Ministry of Home Affairs under the guidance of Home Minister Amit Shah has taken several initiatives to ensure effective management of disasters in the country. A number of 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 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. 2,542.12 crore had already been approved.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and guidance of Home Minister Shah 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.