Union Home Minister holds High-Level Meeting to review preparedness on flood situation in the country

  • Union Home Minister, Amit Shah holds High-Level Meeting to review preparedness on flood situation in the country. In this meeting a number decisions were taken to have a new system of co-ordination between IMD, Jal Shakti Ministry, CWC and NDRF 
  • Reviews formulation of a long-term comprehensive policy to deal with the problem of floods occurring every year across the country 
  • Directed officials to maintain better synergy between the Central and State agencies to create a permanent system for forecasting floods and water level rise in major catchment zones and regions of the country 
  • Suggested to the Ministry of Jal Shakti to devise a mechanism to remove soil from large dams, which would help in increasing capacity of dams and in flood control 
  • The Union Home Minister also advised specialized institutions like the India Meteorological 
  • Department and the Central Water Commission to use state-of-the-art technology and satellite data for more accurate weather and flood predictions 
  • The Union Home Minister directed the formation of an SOP immediately to broadcast to the public at the earliest the IMD warnings regarding lightning strikes through various mediums 
  • Various mobile apps related to weather forecasting like 'Umang', 'Rain Alarm' and 'Damini' app should be given maximum publicity so that their benefits reach the targeted population 
  • Damini app triggers warning about lightning strikes three hours in advance which can help reduce losses to life and property 
  • While being sensitive to rivers, we should also take care of water flow of the rivers
Union Home Minister, Amit Shah held a high-level meeting today to review the preparedness of measures to deal with flood situation in the country.In this meeting a number decisions were taken to have a new system of co-ordination between the IMD, Jal Shakti Ministry, CWC and NDRF. He also reviewed the long-term measures for formulation of a comprehensive and overarching policy to mitigate the perennial flood problems of the country.
 
Union Home Minister directed the officials to continue to strengthen coordination between the Central and State agencies to have a permanent system for forecasting of floods and rise in water levels in major catchment zones/ areas of the country.

Shah advised the Ministry of Jal Shakti to work out a mechanism for desilting of large dams, which will help in increasing dam storage capacity and help in flood control. The Union Home Minister also advised specialized institutions like the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Central Water Commission to use state-of-the-art technology and satellite data for more accurate weather and flood predictions.  

The Union Home Minister directed the formation of an SOP immediately to broadcast IMD warnings on lightning strikes to the public at the earliest through TV, FM Radio, SMS and other mediums. He also directed forgiving maximum publicity to various mobile apps related to weather forecasting like 'Umang', 'Rain Alarm' and 'Damini', developed by the IMD, so that their benefits reach the targeted population. Damini app triggers warning about lightning strikes three hours in advance which can help reduce losses to life and property.

The meeting was attended by Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, Secretaries of Ministries/ Departments of Home Affairs, Water Resources, Earth Sciences, Member Secretary NDMA, Director Generals of IMD and NDRF, Chairman, CWC and other senior officers of concerned Ministries.