New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting here and reviewed the preparedness of flood management and also long-term measures to formulate a comprehensive and far-reaching policy to mitigate the menace of floods in the country.
Shah also reviewed the preparations to deal with Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) and emphasised on optimum use of satellite imagery provided by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) by various agencies for flood and water management, a Home Ministry statement said.
Stating that India’s Disaster management was moving forward with a ‘Zero Casualty Approach’, the Home Minister appealed to all the States and Union Territories to timely implement the advisories issued by NDMA for flood management.
He directed the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Central Water Commission (CWC) to complete the process of recalibrating all the equipment used in flood forecast, at the earliest.
During the meeting he instructed concerned departments to conduct a detailed study of the recent floods in Sikkim and Manipur and submit a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
He also directed to ensure that floodgates of all the major dams are in good condition. Adding that “The flood monitoring centres of the CWC should be in accordance with our requirements and of international standards”.
Shah further said that the non-perennial rivers are prone to more soil erosion and siltation, resulting in floods and directed that efforts should be made to upgrade forecast system of water level of rivers for better flood management.
With regards to Northeast region, Shah said that at least 50 large ponds in the Northeast should be constructed so that the water of the Brahmaputra River could be diverted and stored in those ponds. He said that this will help in developing agriculture, irrigation and tourism in those areas at a low cost and also help in tackling the floods, and, it will eventually benefit the local economy.
He also instructed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to take appropriate precautionary measures to prevent incidents of forest fire.
For this, Home Minister stressed the need to regularly create fire lines, remove dry leaves and conduct mock drills from time to time with local residents and forest personnel. Along with this, he also asked to analyse the incidents of repeated forest fires at the same place. Home Minister also asked the NDMA to prepare a detailed manual to deal with incidents of forest fires.
He directed that the IMD’s alerts regarding lightning strikes should be disseminated to the public on time through SMS, TV, FM radio and other mediums. Moreover, he emphasised on the need to integrate weather, rainfall and flood warning related apps developed by various departments so that their benefits could reach the targeted population.
He said that since the community is the first responder at the time of any disaster including flood, therefore, there should be coordination and integration in the community awareness programs being run by various agencies so that they can have maximum impact.
Those present were Union Minister for Jal Shakti CR Paatil, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, Union Home Secretary, Secretaries of Ministries and Departments of River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Earth Sciences, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Road Transport and Highways, Chairperson Railway Board, Members and Heads of Departments of NDMA, Directors General of NDRF and IMD, Chairman NHAI and senior officers from other concerned departments including CWC.
UNI
