Consider fact-sheets first: 

*Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah chairs a high-level meeting to review the preparedness of flood management in New Delhi on June 23.

*The meeting took note of a file showing that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s Disaster Management is moving forward with a ‘Zero Casualty Approach’.

*Flood monitoring centres of Central Water Commission should be in accordance with requirements and of international standards.

*At least 50 large ponds in Northeast should be constructed to divert water of Brahmaputra River. This will help in tackling floods and developing agriculture, irrigation and tourism. Efforts should be made to upgrade forecast system of water level of rivers for better flood management.

*Natural drainage system should be an integral part of the designs of road construction to deal with inundation of roads, in case of floods. 

*Home Minister instructs NDMA and M/o Jal Shakti to conduct a detailed study on floods in Sikkim and Manipur and submit a report to the MHA.

*Home Minister stresses on the need to regularly create fire lines, remove dry leaves and conduct mock drills with locals and forest personnel to prevent forest fires. 

*Union Home Minister emphasizes on the need to integrate weather, rainfall and flood warning related apps developed by various departments. 

Ahead of rains and floods causing miseries to people, the Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness of flood management in New Delhi.  

Shah 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 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. In addition, Amit Shah 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. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister 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. 

Amit 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.

Amit 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.

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. 

Amit Shah 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. 

The Union Home Minister 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. He emphasized 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. 

Amit Shah directed 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. During the meeting, IMD, CWC, NDRF and NDMA made detailed presentations. 

The departments concerned also informed about the action taken on the instructions given by the Union Home Minister during the flood review meeting held last year. They also apprised about their preparedness for the current monsoon season and future action plan. 

Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri CR Paatil, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri 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 were present in the meeting.