Centre to immediately constitute teams to visit flood-hit states

The Centre has decided to immediately constitute and send inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs) to visit 11 states to asses the damage caused by the recent floods.

The decision was taken at a meeting of a high-level committee headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday.

The Ministry of Home Affairs will immediately constitute and depute IMCTs to states of Assam, Meghalya, Tripura, Bihar, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala affected by recent floods, an official statement said.

It is a significant departure from the existing practice of deputing an IMCT after the receipt of memorandum from the state in the wake of any severe calamity.

The 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 statement said.

The team will again visit the state after submission of the memorandum for detailed assessment of the damages and relief operations conducted for making final recommendations for allocation of additional funds.

At present, the team visits the affected state only once after the receipt of memorandum from the state.

The committee also reviewed the ongoing flood situation in different parts of the country and the logistic support provided by central agencies, including deployment of the National Disaster Response Force and defence forces.

In the combined rescue operations in the states affected by floods, landslides, etc. during the current monsoon season, the NDRF, Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard have rescued more than 1,53,000 people.

The flood situation in the country has been continuously monitored by the Union home minister, the statement said.

Shah directed senior officers to continue to take every possible measure to deal with the situation arising out of southwest monsoon in the 11 states and to extend all necessary assistance to the flood-affected states, it added.