Central team to visit calamity-hit states without waiting for memorandum

In a significant decision, Home Minister Amit Shah has decided that Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) will be immediately constituted in the aftermath of a natural calamity without waiting for the memorandum from the state concerned.

In line with the decision, the Home Ministry will immediately constitute and send IMCTs to Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Bihar, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala which have been affected by recent floods.

A Home Ministry release said on Tuesday the High-Level Committee (HLC), chaired by Shah reviewed the existing practice of deputing an IMCT after the receipt of the memorandum from the state in the wake of any severe calamity. The HLC meeting was held on Monday.

"In a significant decision taken by the Union Home Minister, IMCT will henceforth be constituted immediately in the aftermath of any natural calamity of severe nature, which will visit the affected areas in the state so as to have first-hand assessment of damages caused and relief work carried out by the state administration," the release said.

It said IMCT will again visit the state after submission of the memorandum for a detailed assessment of the damages and allocation of additional funds. At present, the IMCT visits the affected state only once after the receipt of the memorandum from the state.

The meeting also reviewed the flood situation in different parts of the country. In the combined rescue operations, NDRF, Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard have evacuated and rescued more than 1,53,000 people.

The release said that flood situation in the country has been continuously monitored by Shah and he directed senior officers to continue taking all possible measures to deal with the situation in concerned states.