Shah Calls for Flood Crisis Teams in Every State
Home minister stresses zero-casualty disaster management and climate planning
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday called for the formation of flood crisis management teams in every state and an integrated system for flood forecasting at both the Centre and state levels.
Chairing a high-level meeting to review preparedness of agencies for floods and heat waves, he said efforts should be made to achieve “zero-casualty disaster management”.
Shah said an early warning system should be developed for 30 high-risk lakes in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, and added that at least 60 lakes should be included in the plan with support from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
He said guidelines issued by the NDMA had improved awareness and promoted a “whole of government” approach, and stressed that compliance at state, district and municipal levels would strengthen implementation.
The minister suggested that the NDMA conduct a study to assess how many states were following Union Home Ministry directives and NDMA guidelines on forest fires, heat waves and floods.
“Our objective should be to conserve water by constructing check dams on rivers while also minimising the impact of heat waves and the CAMPA Fund should be utilised to make efforts aimed at maintaining environmental balance more multi-dimensional,” Shah said.
He also called for preparation of a master plan to address changing weather patterns due to climate change, adopting a “whole of government” and “whole of society” approach.
Shah asked officials to focus on strengthening existing apps and portals rather than creating new ones, and emphasised wider dissemination of weather forecasts and warnings.
“Efforts should be made to further improve our assessment of the upcoming monsoon by studying casualties during the monsoon season, the accuracy of our forecasts, and the damage caused to the agriculture sector,” he said.
Union Jal Shakti minister C.R. Patil, the Union home secretary, senior officials of various ministries and members of the NDMA attended the meeting.