Amit Shah directs formation of multi-sectoral central team amid rising natural disasters in Himachal Pradesh

The Central team comprises experts from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune, a Geologist, and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore.

The Union Minister's direction came following a recent meeting in which he was apprised that Himachal Pradesh has witnessed an increase in the frequency and intensity of cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides and torrential rainfall, causing widespread loss of life, damage to infrastructure, livelihoods and environmental degradation.

Further, in the wake of floods, flash floods and landslides during the South West monsoon 2025 in different parts of the state, the Centre has already deputed an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) in advance, without waiting for their memorandum, for on-the-spot, first-hand assessment of the damages.

IMCT started their visit to the affected areas on July 18 and will continue their visit till July 21.

In this direction, a high-level committee chaired by the Union Home Minister has already approved an outlay of Rs 2006.40 crore to Himachal Pradesh for recovery and reconstruction in areas affected by disasters like floods, landslides and cloudbursts for the year 2023, and has also released the first instalment of Rs 451.44 crore on July 7 this year.

Further, in order to support the affected people of the state, the Central government has already released 1st instalment of the Central share of Rs 198.80 crore to Himachal Pradesh from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) on June 18, 2025, for relief measures of an immediate nature.

The central government has also provided all logistic assistance to all states, including Himachal Pradesh, including deployment of requisite National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, Army teams and Air Force support.

A total of 13 teams of NDRF are deployed in Himachal Pradesh for rescue and relief operations.

According to Himachal Pradesh's State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), around 119 human lives have been lost across the state since the onset of the monsoon season on June 20. The state has experienced severe disruptions to public infrastructure, with 146 roads still blocked, 28 power transformers out of service, and 58 water supply schemes affected, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) report released on July 19.

On July 15, Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also met with Union Minister Shah to apprise him about the damage caused by the monsoon in the state, and requested central assistance. (ANI)