Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Tuesday directed States to step up their preparedness by advance planning and deployment of human, physical and financial resources ahead of the monsoon season.
Addressing the annual conference of Relief Commissioners and Secretaries here, the Home Secretary also reviewed the preparedness for the South-West Monsoon expected to arrive by June 6 and disbursement of central assistance.
The Centre released over Rs 17,000 crore as assistance to states affected by natural calamities like floods, cyclone and drought last year, Gauba said adding the central government has sanctioned additional battalions of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) which are being raised in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi-NCR.
The Home Secretary said the Centre would provide all possible assistance under the NDRF and the SDRF besides mobilisation of central forces to the states and the UTs in connection with preparedness during the South-West Monsoon. Gauba said during the recent cyclone ‘Fani’, loss of human lives was minimal due to accurate and early weather forecasting by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and timely mobilisation of resources besides better coordination between the Centre, state governments and other relevant agencies.
Speaking on the occasion, Director General, IMD, K J Ramesh said India has set a new benchmark in disaster risk reduction as demonstrated during cyclone Fani. The IMD is in the process of building the most advanced early warning weather system in coordination with various stakeholders, he said.