HM Amit Shah reviews preparedness for floods, directs officials to plan to reduce damage, casualties

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday reviewed the preparedness for the monsoon and floods in the country, and directed officials to develop a well-planned scheme to reduce damage and casualties.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said, in a statement, that Shah also sought action on priority to provide permanent solutions to the perennial flood problems in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and the northeastern states.

The home minister emphasised on better coordination between different agencies to have a permanent system for forecasting floods and rise in water levels in major catchment zones and areas of the country.

Shah held a high-level meeting to review preparedness of measures to deal with monsoon and flood situation in major flood-prone river basins in the country, the statement said.

He directed the officials to develop a well-planned scheme to reduce flooding and minimise the loss to property and lives.

The home minister also directed the Ministry of Jal Shakti and Central Water Commission (CWC) to review and assess data on real storage capacity of major dams with a view to ensure timely release of water and prevention of floods.

The secretary in the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation informed about the major floods that had occurred in the country.

He apprised about the structural measures, including management of dams, reservoirs, ongoing projects in Nepal, flood protection measures and non-structural measures i.e. flood plain zoning, flood forecasting and way forward to mitigate effect of floods in Ganga and Brahmaputra Basins.

A total of 40-million-hectares area in India is prone to flood in which Ganga and Brahmaputra are main flood basins and Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are most flood-prone states, the statement said.

The decisions taken in the meeting will go a long way to mitigate the sufferings of the lakhs of people in the country who have to face the fury of floods in terms of damage to their crops, property, livelihood and precious lives, it said.

Senior officials of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) also gave presentations.