Union Minister Uma Bharti on Saturday pitched for interlinking of rivers to mitigate the problems of floods and droughts in the long-run, apart from building large storages, an official statement said.
The Union water resources minister made the comment during a high-level meeting to review flood situation in the country and the actions being taken at the national level here, it said.
She reiterated that the Centre has received all the clearances required for the Ken-Betwa river linking project, which aims at fulfilling water requirement of Bundelkhand region falling in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Asserting that the government is "eager to implement the first interlinking project for the benefit of the people", Bharti said the Uttar Pradesh government has conveyed its support for the project, while response from the other beneficiary state, Madhya Pradesh, is "expected soon".
During the meeting, the minister was briefed that the Central Water Commission took "pro-active" steps by issuing around 3,200 flood forecasts to all agencies concerned.
According to the statement, the forecasts have been "extremely beneficial" for the district administrations in timely evacuation and saving of lives of millions of people.
The Ministry has also issued seven specific district-wise advisories on anticipated floods and dam-wise advisories for water release, wherever applicable, to facilitate early deployment of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) or State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and operation of reservoir gates, the statement said.