Amit Shah reviews current flood situation in high-level meeting, directs officials to provide assistance to affected areas

New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday chaired a high-level meeting to review the flood situation prevailing in different parts of the country and take stock of the preparedness of the states and central ministries which are concerned with dealing with any flood-like situation.

This comes after the India Metrological Department (IMD) said that states like Assam and Bihar have received extremely heavy rainfall in last 3-4 days and more downpour is expected in the next 48 hours.

During the meeting, Central Water Commission (CWC) said that in Assam, rivers including Brahmaputra, Beki, Jiabharali, Katakhal and Barak and in Bihar, rivers including Kamla, Bagmati, Mahananda, Gandak are "flowing in severe situation".

"Both IMD and CWC are issuing forecast bulletins at regular intervals. Control Rooms in MHA, NDRF, IMD and CWC are keeping a close watch on the situation on a 24*7 basis," the CWC told Shah.

Directing the senior officials to take every possible measure to provide assistance to flood-affected states due to Southwest monsoon, the Home Minister added, "lives and property must be protected".

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) informed the home minister that 73 NDRF teams have been deployed in vulnerable areas of flood affected states along with all necessary equipment. It further said that these teams are in addition to the teams kept on alert at Battalion Headquarters and Regional Response Centers (RRC). 

Till now, 750 persons in Assam and Bihar have been rescued by NDRF teams.