Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the country’s preparedness to deal with potential floods and heatwave across all states, stressing the need to implement Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Zero Casualty Disaster Management”.
At a high level meeting on Sunday,Shah 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 National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA) support.
Shah also said there should be an integrated system for flood forecasting at both the central and state levels.Flood Crisis Management Teams (FCMTs) should be constituted and activated in every state, the home minister said.He asked the NDMA to conduct a study to assess how many states are following the ministry’s directives and the NDMA guidelines for dealing with forest fires, heatwaves and floods.
Emphasising that greater possibilities for water conservation and improvement in groundwater levels should be explored through water-storage and check-dam projects, he said the objective should be to conserve water by constructing check dams on rivers, while also minimising the impact of heatwaves.
HM Shah directed all states to constitute and activate Flood Crisis Management Teams (FCMTs) to strengthen disaster response mechanisms ahead of the monsoon season. He also called for a comprehensive review of compliance with disaster management guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) at the state, district and municipal levels.
Shah said the CAMPA Fund should be utilised to make efforts aimed at maintaining environmental balance.He said 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 those.Shah said weather forecasts and warnings should be disseminated widely and effectively.
Efforts should be made to further improve the assessment of the upcoming monsoon by studying casualties during the season, the accuracy of forecasts and the damage caused to the agriculture sector, he added.The Home Minister also advised ministries and departments to focus on improving and integrating existing disaster-related apps and digital portals instead of creating multiple new platforms.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that several steps had already been taken under the leadership of PM Modi to strengthen disaster preparedness. These include extending rainfall and flood forecast lead time from three days to seven days by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Central Water Commission (CWC), along with improvements in heat wave forecasting standards.
The meeting was attended by Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil, the Union Home Secretary, secretaries and senior officials of various ministries, members and heads of departments of the NDMA.
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