New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday directed officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to develop a comprehensive software by March 2024, in which scientific data will be made available to all the early warning agencies immediately for dissemination to the disaster management agencies.
He said that foreign expert agencies should also be roped in for developing this software. Shah said that in the Aapda Mitra scheme of the government, traditional divers in villages should also be imparted disaster rescue training. Chairing a high-level meeting in New Delhi to review overall preparedness for flood management in the context of the upcoming monsoon, Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, efforts are being made in the field of disaster management to help minimise the loss of lives and livelihood during disasters.
He said that the five days rain and flood forecast currently being provided by IMD and CWC is to be expanded to seven day forecast by the next monsoon season so that the flood management can be further improved. The Home Minister also reviewed the long-term measures for the formulation of a comprehensive and overarching policy to mitigate the perennial flood problems of the country.
Shah directed the officials to continue to strengthen coordination between the Central and State agencies to have a permanent system for forecasting floods and the rise in water levels in major catchment zones/areas of the country. He instructed that during the current flood season, the present and forecasted river levels must be monitored on an hourly basis and appropriate measures, including monitoring of embankments, evacuation, temporary shelters etc should be taken by all stakeholders concerned to respond to impending floods.
Shah also advised specialized institutions like the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Central Water Commission (CWC) to continue to upgrade their technologies for more accurate weather and flood forecasts. He directed for timely dissemination of IMD warnings on lightning strikes to the public through SMS, TV, FM Radio and other mediums. Shah said that maximum publicity should be given to various mobile apps related to weather forecasting like 'Umang', 'Rain Alarm' and 'Damini', developed by the IMD, so that their benefits reach the targeted population.
It is worth mentioning that the ‘Damini’ app triggers warning about lightning strikes three hours in advance, which can help reduce losses to life and property. Complying with the direction of the Union Home Minister given during the last flood review meeting held on June 2, 2022, this app has now been made available in 15 languages for easy dissemination of information.
Shah directed that there should be coherence in community awareness programmes being run by different agencies and it should be integrated to have the maximum effect since the community is the first responder. In the meeting, presentations were made by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Chairman, Central Water Commission (CWC), MoRTH, DoWR & GR, Railway Board, DG, NDRF and several other organisations. The meeting was attended by secretaries from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Water Resources, River Development and River Rejuvenation, Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Road Transport & Highways among others.
