Amit Shah chairs a high-level meeting to review the preparedness of flood management in New Delhi

Amit Shah chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness of flood management in New Delhi today. The Union Home Minister also reviewed long-term measures to formulate a comprehensive and far-reaching policy to mitigate the menace of floods in the country.

During the meeting, Union Home Minister also reviewed the action taken on the decisions made in the meeting held last year. Along with this, new technologies being adopted by all the agencies and the expansion of their network for flood management, were also discussed during the meeting. Shri Amit Shah also reviewed the preparations to deal with Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF). He also emphasized on optimum use of satellite imagery provided by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) by various agencies for flood and water management.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India’s Disaster management is moving forward with a ‘Zero Casualty Approach’. 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. Shri Shah 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 (MHA). He also directed to ensure that floodgates of all the major dams are in good condition. Shri Shah said that the flood monitoring centres of the CWC should be in accordance with our requirements and of international standards.

The Union Home Minister said that the non-perennial rivers are prone to more soil erosion and siltation, resulting in floods. He directed that efforts should be made to upgrade forecast system of water level of rivers for better flood management. Shri Shah said that natural drainage system should be an integral part of the designs of road construction to deal with inundation of roads, in case of floods. Shri 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.