India was far behind in weather forecast a decade ago, but now under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country is at par with developed countries, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday.
Charing a high-level review meeting on preparedness of flood management in the country, Shah also asked the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to work towards efficient flood management in full coordination with the states.
He advised the Jal Shakti Ministry, NDMA and National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) to closely monitor the glacial lakes and take timely steps in the event of any type of outburst, according to an official statement.
Further, Shah said NDMA should also coordinate with the state authorities for flood preparedness and mitigation.
He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India's disaster management is moving forward with a 'zero casualty approach'.
"In 2014, India was far behind in the field of meteorology, but today under the leadership of PM Modi, we are at par with developed countries, now we have to become No.1," he said.
The home minister also reviewed the long-term measures being taken to mitigate the menace of floods in the country and the steps taken on the decisions made in the meeting held last year.
He discussed the new technologies adopted by various agencies for flood management and expansion of their network in the meeting.
He emphasised on maximum use of space technology by various central agencies for flood control and water management.
Shah directed the NDMA to coordinate with the state disaster management authorities (SDMAs) and district disaster management authorities (DDMAs) for ensuring dissemination of early warning alerts to the grassroots level.
He also appealed to all states and Union territories for timely implementation of the advisories issued by NDMA for flood management.
While appreciating Central Water Commission (CWC) and India Meteorological Department (IMD) for increasing the time limit regarding issuance of flood forecasting/advisory, he emphasised on increasing the accuracy level of forecasts.
He said the flood monitoring centres of the CWC should be in accordance with our requirements and of international standards.
The home minister emphasised that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) should work with the states to ensure uniform design changes in state highways also, so that highway drainage system becomes integral part of the designs of road construction to deal with inundation of roads, in case of heavy rains.
He stressed on increasing the forest area around the Narmada river and said that if this experiment is successful, similar efforts will be made in the areas of other rivers as well, the statement said.
This will help revive the river basin, reduce soil erosion and also tackle the emerging problem of low rainfall in the region, he said.
Shah said new options should be explored using technology for robust flood management measures in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Referring to the increasing incidence of flooding in urban areas, he directed all central agencies to take necessary, timely action for flood control in these cities and prepare a comprehensive plan for flood management in big cities.
He advised the Ministry of Jal Shakti to work on improving the condition of wetlands in the Brahmaputra basin, which will be important for flood prevention as well as economic and tourism activities.
Concerned officials apprised Shah about their preparedness for the current monsoon season and future action plan.
He expressed satisfaction over the preparations made by all the departments.
Shah accords highest priority on preparedness measure to reduce the impact of floods and other natural calamities, the statement said.
Every year, he reviews the flood preparedness measures and on his directions, a number of initiatives have been undertaken, including increasing the advance rainfall and flood forecasts by IMD and CWC from three to seven days, and improved parameters for heatwave forecast.
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