Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that the flood monitoring centres of the Central Water Commission (CWC) should be in accordance with the country’s requirements and international standards.

Chairing a high-level meeting here to review the preparedness of flood management, the Union home minister appealed to all the states and Union Territories for the timely implementation the advisories issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for flood management.

In the meeting, Shah also reviewed long-term measures to formulate a comprehensive and far-reaching policy to mitigate the menace of floods in the country.

He also took stock of the action taken on the decisions made in the meeting held last year. Along

The meeting also discussed the new technologies being used by the agencies and the expansion of their network for flood management.

Reviewing the preparations to deal with Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), he emphasised the need for optimum utilisation of satellite imagery provided by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) by various agencies for flood and water management.

Amit Shah said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s Disaster management is moving forward with a ‘Zero Casualty Approach’.

He directed the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the CWC to complete the process of recalibrating all the equipment used in flood forecast, at the earliest.

He instructed the departments concerned to conduct a detailed study of the recent floods in Sikkim and Manipur and submit a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The home minister directed to ensure that floodgates of all the major dams are in good condition.

Pointing out that Non-perennial Rivers are prone to soil erosion resulting in floods, he called for efforts to upgrade the forecast system of water level of rivers for better flood management.

He said a natural drainage system should be an integral part of the designs of road construction to deal with inundation of roads, in case of floods.

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 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 added.

Shah instructed the NDMA and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to take appropriate precautionary measures to prevent incidents of forest fire. For this, the Union 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.

He also asked the NDMA to prepare a detailed manual to deal with incidents of forest fires.

The Union home minister directed the IMD that alerts regarding lightning strikes should be disseminated to the public on time through SMS, TV, FM radio, and other mediums. He emphasised the need to integrate weather, rainfall, and flood warning-related apps developed by various departments so that their benefits could reach the targeted population.

Since the community is the first responder at the time of any disaster including flood, he said there should be coordination and integration in the community awareness programmes 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 were 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, 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 departments concerned including the CWC were present in the meeting.