Union Home Minister Amit Shah today reviewed country’s preparedness to deal with potential floods and heat waves in a comprehensive manner. Chairing a high-level meeting in New Delhi, Mr Shah said, there should be an integrated system for flood forecasting at both the Centre and State levels.
He said, at least 60 lakes should be included in the plan to develop an early warning system for 30 high-risk lakes in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim with the support of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Mr Shah said the objective should be to conserve water by constructing check dams on rivers while also minimizing the impact of heat waves. He stressed that efforts should be made to ensure minimum damage to the agriculture sector due to heat waves.
The Minister said, Flood Crisis Management Teams should be constituted and activated in every state of the country. Mr Shah said, the NDMA should conduct a study to assess how many states are following the Ministry of Home Affairs’ directives and the NDMA guidelines for dealing with forest fires, heat waves, and floods. He said, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, efforts must be made to implement the vision of Zero Casualty Disaster Management.
Mr Shah said that a master plan should be prepared to address the changes in weather patterns caused by climate change and the growing disaster-related challenges arising from them. He also said that weather forecasts and warnings should be disseminated widely and effectively.
The meeting was attended by Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Patil, Union Home Secretary, Secretaries and senior officials of various ministries, heads of departments of the National Disaster Management Authority, the Director Generals of the National Disaster Response Force, India Meteorological Department (IMD) and other concerned departments.
