Lucknow: Under the decisive leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh is charting a transformative course in disaster management. With a focus on strengthening grassroots preparedness and rapid response systems, the state government has submitted a series of comprehensive proposals to the 16th Finance Commission, aimed at overhauling the disaster relief and mitigation framework.
One of the most pressing appeals is to revise the existing norms of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF). The government has advocated for the inclusion of state-notified disasters such as heatwaves, lightning strikes, unseasonal rainfall, storms, snakebites, and drownings into the national disaster list.
These calamities, though regionally prominent, remain under-recognized at the national level. In 2024–25 alone, Uttar Pradesh reported 4,534 deaths from such localised disasters, starkly contrasting with 176 deaths from nationally recognised calamities. To improve fund utilization, UP has requested flexibility for inter-head transfers within disaster management budgets, allowing the redirection of unspent resources to urgent areas.
The state also seeks to raise the permissible expenditure ceiling for state-notified disasters from 10% to 25%, in line with the ground-level impact and growing frequency of such events.
Another groundbreaking proposal aims to construct District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) buildings in all districts a much-needed step for improving local coordination and administrative readiness. However, current SDRF/SDMF guidelines restrict such infrastructural developments. Hence, a request for policy revision and 1% allocation of disaster funds for administrative expenses has also been put forth.
CM Yogi Adityanath has personally led the advocacy, emphasizing the need for a resilient and responsive system that reflects today’s climate challenges. If accepted, these reforms will not only bolster UP’s disaster preparedness but could serve as a model for other states.
Through these visionary steps, Uttar Pradesh is turning disaster response into a proactive mission from relief to resilience.
