The Narendra Modi government at the Centre has sanctioned ₹550 crore for the damage to the infrastructure and other losses that Sikkim had borne during the devastating Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in October 2023.

On Friday, the Union ministry of home affairs said in a media release that the decision was made at a meeting of a high-level committee under the chairmanship of Union home minister Amit Shah.

“The high-level committee has also approved financial assistance of Rs.555.70 crores to the state of Sikkim from recovery and reconstruction funding window under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for disaster recovery and reconstruction needs of various sectors affected due to devastating Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) occurred in the downstream along the Teesta river basin in October, 2023,” said the release.

The committee also approved projects or activities of ₹1,604.39 crore in five states — Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Kerala — for expansion and modernisation of fire services.

After the natural disaster in the mountain state that sits on the China border, the P.S. Tamang government of Sikkim had sought financial assistance from the Centre to carry out various reconstruction projects in different areas across the state because of extensive damage caused by the GLOF.

In February this year, the Centre had approved the implementation of the National Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) Risk Mitigation Project (NGRMP) in four states — Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim andHimachal Pradesh.

For the project, ₹40 crores will be spent in Sikkim, out of which the central government’s share will be ₹36 crore. The state will have to shell out the remaining ₹4 crore.

The project was taken to reduce the risk associated with GLOF, particularly in regions that are susceptible to such natural disasters.

“Under the project, assessment of hazard and risk of GLOF, introduce a mechanism for monitoring and early warning system and take up mitigation measures to reduce the damage caused by such natural disaster,”said a source.