Cabinet approves continuing Flood Management and Border Areas Programme

New Delhi: The Cabinet has given the nod to the continuation of the Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP), which aims to address critical aspects of flood control and anti-erosion measures,for the period spanning 2021-2026.

According to an official statement, the FMBAP comprises two key components of Flood Management Programme (FMP) and River Management and Border Areas (RMBA).

It has a robust total outlay of Rs 4,100 crore allocated for the next five years, it said.

Under the Flood Management Programme (FMP) component of FMBAP with an outlay of Rs. 2940 crore, central assistance will be provided to state governments for taking up critical works related to flood control, anti-erosion, drainage development and anti-sea erosion among others, the statement said.

"The pattern of funding to be followed is 90 per cent (Centre), 10 per cent (State) for Special Category States (eight North-Easter States and Hilly States of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and UT of Jammu & Kashmir) and 60 per cent (Centre), 40 per cent (State) for General/Non-Special Category States," the statement said.

Under the River Management and Border Areas (RMBA) component of FMBAP with an outlay of Rs. 1160 crore, flood control and anti-erosion works on common border rivers with neighbouring countries including hydrological observations and flood forecasting, and investigation and pre-construction activities of joint water resources projects (with neighbouring countries) on common border rivers will be taken up with 100 percent central assistance.

Although, primary responsibility of flood management rests with the state governments, the statement said the government has decided that it is desirable to supplement their efforts in flood management, encouraging promotion and adoption of modern technology.

"This is particularly relevant as the increased incidence of extreme events have been witnessed during the last few years in view of the likely impact of climate change and the situation may further aggravate in times to come exacerbating the problem of floods in terms of extent, intensity and frequency," it said.