In Shimla, Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena took a key step Saturday to speed up disaster recovery. He handed over the power to approve muck removal to local District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs). This move shifts decisions from the state level to districts, helping teams act faster after landslides and floods.
Saxena stressed the need to find safe muck dumping sites right away. He put top priority on the hardest-hit areas from the 2023 and 2025 natural disasters: Mandi, Kullu, Chamba, and Shimla districts. To make this happen, he told the Public Works Department (PWD) Secretary to team up with the Forest Department, Jal Shakti, and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). These partnerships will guide better planning for Himachal Pradesh disaster management.
Saxena shared these updates during the 26th meeting of the State Executive Committee (SEC), set up under India’s Disaster Management Act of 2005. The group reviewed progress on past orders and focused on building stronger defenses against disasters in Himachal Pradesh.
A big topic was early warning systems for dams. The committee pushed dam operators to follow 2015 guidelines and the Dam Safety Act of 2021. Himachal Pradesh has 30 major dams—25 already built and five still in progress. These systems could save lives by spotting risks early.
The meeting also greenlit a Rs 139 crore project report under the National Landslide Risk Mitigation Programme. It heads to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) soon to tackle landslide threats in vulnerable areas.
They approved another report worth Rs 8.16 crore for the Forest Fire Risk Management scheme through the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF). This will boost efforts to prevent and fight forest fires in Himachal Pradesh.
On the funding side, the SEC okayed Rs 78.76 lakh from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to clear 46,988 cubic meters of debris from public spots in Mandi district.
Finally, they approved a new State Disaster Response Reserve (SDRR), modeled after the national version. This stockpile will help Himachal Pradesh respond quicker to future emergencies like floods, landslides, and fires.
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