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PM Modi calls for measures to avoid deaths due to heatwave, stay alert for monsoon
Regarding the southwest monsoon preparedness, Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised all states and UTs to frame the ‘Flood Preparedness Plans’ and undertake appropriate measures.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review heatwave management and monsoon preparedness and asked states and Union territories (UTs) to prepare heat action plans as a standard response at all levels.
Modi said measures must be taken to avoid fatalities owing to heatwave or fire incidents, stressing on response time towards any such incident being minimal. The Prime Minister further said that in wake of the rising temperatures, regular hospital fire safety audits need to be done, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) read.
Officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) were present at the meeting and they briefed the PM about the persisting high temperatures across the country between March and May.
Regarding preparedness to deal with the southwest monsoon, the PM advised all states and UTs to frame the ‘Flood Preparedness Plans’ and undertake appropriate measures. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), meanwhile, has been advised to develop its deployment plan in flood prone states. “Active use of social media for sensitisation of communities has to be widely adopted,” the PMO statement added.
Modi also spoke about the need to work to substantially reduce the vulnerability of forests across the diverse ecosystems in India against fire hazards, sharpen the abilities of forest personnel and institutions for timely identification of a possible fire and for fighting it, and to speed up recovery after a fire event.
He directed officials to make arrangements for monitoring the quality of drinking water to avoid contamination and water-borne diseases in view of the arriving monsoons. The meeting's talk points also included “effective coordination between central and state agencies to ensure preparedness of all systems for any incidents in the wake of heatwave and upcoming monsoons,” the PMO statement added.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of the Met department forecasting a fresh spell of heatwave over northwest and central India starting May 7, and heavy rainfall along with thunderstorms and lighting in southern and eastern regions. The Odisha government earlier in the day issued a cyclone alert over the Bay of Bengal.
