Amit Shah reviews floods, monsoon preparedness; seeks Centre-states coordination

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday reviewed the overall preparedness to deal with floods and monsoon and sought strengthening of coordination between the central and the state governments for proper prediction of the deluge and water level rise. Chairing the meeting, he took stock of the preparations made by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in the flood-affected areas. The home minister reviewed the overall preparedness to deal with floods during monsoon, an official spokesperson said. Shah also reviewed the long-term measures to formulate a comprehensive policy to mitigate the flood-related problems of the country. The officials were directed to continuously strengthen coordination between the central and the state level agencies to establish a permanent system for providing the accurate prediction of flood and water level rise in major catchment areas of the country, the spokesperson said. The home minister instructed the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Central Water Commission (CWC) to continue to upgrade their technologies for more accurate weather and flood forecasting. The NDRF has been directed to prepare SOPs in collaboration with the states for issuing rain early warnings at local, municipal and state levels in areas with heavy rainfall. Shah stressed on making Damini app available in all local languages saying it gives lightning warning three hours in advance that can help in minimising loss of lives and property. He also ordered timely dissemination of warnings about lightning to the public through SMSes, and other means like TV and radio. The decisions taken in the meeting will go a long way in mitigating and easing sufferings of lakhs of people who have to face the wrath of floods affecting their crops, property, livelihood and lives, the spokesperson said. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.