Amit Shah chairs meeting to review preparedness for flood management

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting in the national capital to review overall preparedness for flood management in the country.

Union Minister of Jai Shakti, C R Patil, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, Secretaries of Ministries/ Departments of Home Affairs; Water Resources, River Development & River Rejuvenation; Earth Sciences; Environment, Forests & Climate Change; Road Transport & Highways; Chairman, Railway Board; Member & Secretary (I/c) NDMA; Director Generals of NDRF and IMD; Chairman(s) of CWC, NHAI and other senior officers of Ministries concerned attended the meeting.

The meeting was held at the Ministry of Home Affairs in North Block.

Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and a few other states witness landslides and other rain-related issues during the monsoon. Currently, Assam is facing floods with lakhs of people affected in several districts. Last month, Cyclone Remal also caused devastation across Tripura.

In the Nagaon district of Assam, floods have severely affected nearly 6,000 people, submerged 35 villages in the district under Kampur and Raha revenue circles, and also submerged 1,089 hectares of crop area.

According to the flood report of Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), nearly 3 lakh people in 19 districts were affected by the deluge.

More than 2.43 lakh people have been affected alone in Karimganj district. 979 villages under 48 revenue circles in 19 districts in the state have been affected by the current wave of floods.

The flood waters have submerged 3326.31 hectares of crop area in the flood-hit districts.

Cyclone Remal has also brought about intense rainfall in Assam, leading to widespread flooding. More than 29 people have lost their lives in the floods which occurred after Cyclone Remal.