PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi after coming from Leh on Friday evening reviewed the flood and landslide situation of Assam and rest of the Northeast.

“PM held four rounds of meetings including one on the situation arising in Assam out of floods and landslides,” official sources said.

Prime Minister Modi spoke to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal over the flood situation in Assam and assures him of all help from the Centre.

Modi has sanctioned ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for next of kin of persons who lost their lives due to floods in Assam, from PMNRF.

Union home minister Amit Shah also held a meeting with senior officials to review the preparedness and measures taken to tackle the flood situation in major flood prone river basins in different parts of the country.

Sources said that home minister Shah has asked for actions on following up priority areas to provide permanent solutions to the perennial flood problems in North Eastern states, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

To ensure the timely release of water and prevention of flood, home minister Shah also directed the Ministry of Jal Shakti and Central water Commission (CWC) to review and assess the data on real storage capacity of major dams.

Shah also directed officials to develop a well planned scheme to reduce flooding and minimize loss of lives and property.

“He emphasised on better coordination to have a permanent system for forecasting of floods and rise in water levels in major catchment zones and areas of the country,” official said.

It was told in the meeting that a total of 40 million hectares area in India is prone to flood in which Ganga and Bharmaputra are main flood basins and Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are most flood prone states.