The Public Accounts Committee has warned the Centre and State governments for their lack of preparedness in dealing with floods. The panel, in its report on Disaster Preparedness in India, tabled in Parliament on Thursday, said an average of 72.25 lakh hectares of land are affected annually by floods of which 37.89 lakh hectares are cropped area. It urged the Home Ministry to encourage the States to establish Dam Safety Organisations to prepare emergency action plans in case of adverse situation. The panel noted that just 14 States have so far formed such authorities, while only eight States have prepared emergency action plans for 192 large dams, while the country has 4,728 large dams.
It urged the Home Ministry, Ministry of Water Resources, Department of Space, Meteorology Department, dam owning companies and state governments to come together to assess and minimise the damage caused by floods. “The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation Departments should also take necessary steps to manage the floor water by diverting it to water deficit States through implementation of schemes for inter-linking of rivers and creating network of canals,” the report added.