Agartala, Oct 2 (IANS): The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has released Rs 855.40 crore to six flood-affected northeastern states as a central share from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and an advance from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), officials said on Wednesday.

According to a Disaster Management official in Agartala, Assam got the highest flood relief aid of Rs 716 crore, followed by Rs 50 crore to Manipur, Rs 25 crore to Tripura, Rs 23.60 crore to Sikkim, Rs 21.60 crore to Mizoram, and Rs 19.20 crore to Nagaland.

This Rs 855.40 crore financial assistance is part of the Rs 5,858.60 crore released to 14 flood-affected states. The other affected states include Maharashtra (Rs 1,492 crore), Andhra Pradesh (Rs 1,036 crore), Bihar (Rs 655.60 crore), Gujarat (Rs 600 crore), West Bengal (Rs 468 crore), Telangana (Rs 416.80 crore), Himachal Pradesh (Rs 189.20 crore), and Kerala (Rs 145.60 crore).

Chief Ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Manik Saha (Tripura), and N. Biren Singh (Manipur) thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the flood relief assistance.

An official statement said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and the guidance of Union Home Minister Shah, the Modi government stands shoulder to shoulder with the states affected by natural calamities in mitigating the hardship faced by the people.

Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) were sent to flood-affected Assam, Mizoram, Kerala, Tripura, Nagaland, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Manipur for an on-the-spot assessment of the damages. Further, IMCTs will be sent shortly to make an on-the-spot assessment of damage in the states of Bihar and West Bengal, which have also recently been affected by floods. After the assessment reports of IMCTs are received, additional financial assistance from the NDRF will be approved for the disaster-affected states, as per the established procedure.

The statement said that more than Rs 14,958 crore has already been released to 21 states during this year. Of the Rs 14,958 crore, Rs 9,044.80 crore was released from the SDRF to 21 states, Rs 4,528.66 crore from the NDRF to 15 states and Rs 1385.45 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 11 states. In addition to financial assistance, the Central government has also provided all logistic assistance, including deployment of requisite NDRF and Army teams and Air Force support to all the flood-affected states.