Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Thursday that the Central government has approved the first urban flood mitigation project, worth Rs 561.29 crore, for the Chennai Basin project’s “Integrated Urban Flood Management” activities. As he stated in one of his posts on ‘X,’ this mitigation project will contribute to Chennai’s flood resilience, Shah made his point clear. It’s the “first in a series of urban flood mitigation efforts and will help develop a broader framework for urban flood management,” he added.
“Chennai is facing major floods, the third such occurring in the last eight years. We are witnessing more instances of metropolitan cities receiving excessive rainfall, leading to sudden flooding,” Shah wrote in his post on X.
“Guided by a pro-active approach, PM @narendramodi Ji has approved the first urban flood mitigation project of Rs 561.29 crore for ‘Integrated Urban Flood Management activities for Chennai Basin Project’ under the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF), which also includes Central assistance of Rs 500 crore,” he said.
The announcement is made at a time when Chennai is experiencing extreme flooding as a result of the region’s intense rainfall after Cyclone Michaung made landfall. Following the cyclone’s Tuesday landfall, the capital of Tamil Nadu was still under water, with over 61,000 people taking shelter in government-run facilities. There was a scarcity of water, basic supplies, and electricity, so many others checked into cheap hotels and service apartments.