Nitish reviews flood and drought preparedness in Bihar

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today reviewed the preparedness for potential flood and drought situations in Bihar and directed the officials to take necessary steps to mitigate it.
"Whether it be flood or drought, whatever has to be done must be done in advance," he told officials at the review meeting.
He asked the concerned departments to stick to Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in place to deal with whatever crisis that arises out of flood or drought, so that the affected people can get timely assistance.
Kumar emphasised on improvement in quality with regard to compilation of disaster-related data so that proper assessment could be made about the extent of disaster and its impact on people.

The officials should take interest in compilation of data by preparing a guideline for the purpose at the block level and cross check the facts so that a correct assessment could be made about disaster and its impact, which would help in distribution of assistance to the affected people, he said.
Asking officials to gear up for any eventuality with regard to occurrence of flood or drought, Kumar said disaster management remains a top priority and disaster-affected people have the first right on resources of the state government.

The Chief Minister further directed the Principal Secretary/Secretary In-charge of districts to visit the district headquarters and review preparedness for flood or drought over the next one week.

During the review meeting, all divisional commissioners, district magistrates, district police chiefs and other district-level officials stayed connected via video conferencing.
Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Vyasjee gave a presentation about the department's preparedness for management of disasters.
State Water Resources Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Agriculture Minister Rameshwar Rai, Rural Works Minister Shailesh Kumar, Public Health Engineering Minister Krishnandan Prasad Verma and Disaster Management Minister Chandrashekhar along with senior officials were present at the review meeting.