Nagpur: With floods, lightning strikes and even heatwaves increasingly testing Vidarbha’s disaster-response machinery, Maharashtra govt has sanctioned ₹6.25 crore for the region’s 11 districts, including ₹1 crore for Nagpur, to build response capacity during 2026-27.The allocation forms part of a statewide ₹23-crore package approved for all 36 district disaster management authorities. The funds are meant not merely for post-disaster relief but for advance measures aimed at reducing risks, limiting potential damage and ensuring that district administrations are better equipped before an emergency strikes.Together, the six districts under Nagpur division will get ₹3.75 crore. The five districts of Amravati division — Amravati, Akola, Washim, Buldhana and Yavatmal — have been granted ₹50 lakh each, taking the division’s total allocation to ₹2.5 crore. According to official notification issued by the relief and rehabilitation department on July 14, Nagpur has received the highest allocation in Vidarbha at ₹1 crore. Chandrapur has been allotted ₹75 lakh, while Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia and Gadchiroli will receive ₹50 lakh each.Nagpur’s relatively higher allocation places it among a select group of districts across Maharashtra receiving ₹1 crore. Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Solapur and Nashik are the other districts granted the same amount. Mumbai city and Mumbai suburban districts have been allotted ₹50 lakh each.The fresh allocation assumes significance against Nagpur district’s recent disaster record. According to district administration’s monsoon preparedness report, 174 people died in natural calamities over seven years, with lightning alone accounting for 95 deaths, or nearly 55% of the total. Floods claimed another 50 lives, while 29 deaths were attributed to other causes, including drowning, wall collapses and tree-fall incidents.The report showed that calamity-related deaths peaked at 39 in 2022-23, the same year the district recorded around 1,596.3 mm rainfall — nearly 150.5% of its annual average of 1,060.3 mm. Lightning fatalities were particularly high in 2020-21 and 2021-22, when 20 deaths were recorded each year.The govt has directed that the money be utilised in accordance with prescribed standards for “preparedness and capacity building” under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. District authorities are expected to undertake preventive and risk-reduction measures based on their respective disaster management plans.Resident deputy collectors have been designated as drawing and disbursing officers, while district collectors will act as controlling officers. Any expenditure beyond the prescribed limits during an emergency or for an unforeseen requirement will need prior or post-facto approval from the district disaster management authority.
