The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has set up Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) for Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir to evaluate the destruction caused by torrential rains, flash floods, landslides, and cloudbursts during the current monsoon season.
According to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, these teams will visit the impacted regions in the early part of the following week. Their aim and task is to conduct ground-level assessments of damages and review the relief measures being undertaken by the respective state governments.
Each team will be led by a senior officer of the rank of Joint Secretary from the Ministry of Home Affairs or the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Members will also include senior representatives from key ministries and departments such as Expenditure, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Jal Shakti, Power, Road Transport and Highways, and Rural Development.
To provide all the logistical help, the Home Ministry continues to coordinate with the administrations of the impacted states and UTs, deploying Army contingents, Air Force helicopters, and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) troops. These forces are presently working on rescue operations, evacuation of stranded citizens, and restoration of disrupted services in flood-hit regions.
The decision to dispatch central teams immediately after a severe disaster, without waiting for a formal memorandum from the affected state governments, stems from a policy adopted by the MHA in August 2019. This allows for quicker on-the-ground evaluations and faster mobilisation of financial assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
Financially, the Centre has already released significant aid during the ongoing fiscal year 2025–26. According to official figures, ₹10,498.80 crore has been transferred to 24 states under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). Additionally, ₹1,988.91 crore has been disbursed from the NDRF to 12 states. Further allocations include ₹3,274.90 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 20 states and ₹372.09 crore from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to nine states.
An IMCT and a separate multi-sectoral team have already visited Himachal Pradesh in recent weeks to assess damages from recurring cloudbursts and landslides in the hill state. The upcoming visits to Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Jammu & Kashmir are expected to provide updated assessments, enabling the Centre to determine additional financial support.
In a statement, the MHA reiterated that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union government stands firmly with disaster-affected states and will continue to extend every possible measure to alleviate the suffering of people impacted by natural calamities.
