Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on Saturday reviewed the flood situation in different parts of the country and said that long-term solution to mitigate impact of floods and drought lies in interlinking rivers besides building large storages.
In a meeting, she was briefed about steps taken by various organisations under the ministry to deal with floods in different parts of the country, an official release said.
It said that she was told that the Central Water Commission (CWC) had issued around 3,200 flood forecasts which had been beneficial to various district administrations in conducting timely evacuation to save lives of millions of people.
The Minister asked the CWC, Ganga Flood Control Commission and Brahmaputra Board, in consultation with the related central ministries and state governments, to map areas vulnerable to erosion and landslide along river banks and suggest possible remedial measures.
She emphasised that long-term solution to mitigate floods and drought lies in the interlinking of rivers along with building of large storages.
Noting Uttar Pradesh has conveyed its support to Ken-Betwa river interlinking project and the response of Madhya Pradesh was expected soon, she said that the government is eager to implement this first river interlinking project for the benefit of the people of Bundhelkhand region.
The release said that the detailed project report of Damanganga-Pinjal link and Par-Tapi-Narmada interlinking projects was in an advanced stage, while the Kosi-Mechi and Kosi-Ghagra links, envisaged in the Himalayan region, "would greatly attenuate high flood intensity in the Ganga Basin".
Uma Bharti said the government is having continuous dialogue with Nepal government at various levels to mitigate devastation from floods caused by rivers coming from the Himalayan country by planning various storage dams jointly - Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project on river Sarada and Sapta Kosi High dam Project and Sun Kosi Storage-cum-Diversion scheme in the Sapta Kosi Basin.
It said that the ministry has issued seven specific district-wise advisories on anticipated floods as also dam-wise advisories for water release to facilitate early deployment of National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force as also operation of reservoir gates.
It said that another significant step taken since June 2017 was that advance flood advisories based for three days, on rainfall-runoff model, have been made available online for all the 19 river basins.
Uma Bharti will visit Uttar Pradesh on August 21 and Bihar on August 25 to discuss flood related issues with the state governments, while Water Resources Secretary Amarjit Singh is already on a visit to Assam to survey flood-affected areas.
--IANS
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