MP takes stock of preparations to handle likely floods

Officials told to focus also on slums, residential places in low-lying areas

Lok Sabha member Umesh Jadhav speaking at a meeting in Kalaburagi on Thursday.

Taking note of the forecast for heavy rain, Lok Sabha member from Kalaburagi Umesh Jadhav, on Thursday, convened an emergency meeting to take stock of the preparations made by the district administration to handle the emerging situation.

Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Jothsna, Police Commissioner Y.S. Ravikumar, Superintendent of Police Simi Mariam George, Additional Deputy Commissioner Shankar Vanikyal, City Municipal Commissioner Snehal Sudhakar Lokhande and other senior officers attended the meeting.

“Don’t focus only on flood-prone areas along the river banks. There are other areas such as slums and residential areas in the low-lying areas in Kalaburagi that also get severely affected in the event of heavy rain. You need to identify such areas and make preparations,” Mr. Jadhav said and directed Mr. Lokhande to personally visit areas likely to be affected by floods and put up a mechanism in place to handle the situation.

Pointing to the administrative hassles that flood victims have to pass through for getting relief and rehabilitation benefits, Mr. Jadhav told Ms. Jyothsna to see that public servants pay visits to flood-hit areas immediately and offer the required assistance.

“Our officers should immediately respond to the needs of victims before the latter demand for it. They should visit villages where houses are damaged and crops destroyed in floods. They should ensure that the benefits of relief and rehabilitation reach the eligible beneficiaries at the earliest. The helpline established by the district administration should be very quick in responding to calls,” he said.

Ms. Jyothshna briefed Mr. Jadhav about the preparations that the district administration has made for handling the flood situation, if any.

“We have identified flood-prone villages along the banks of the different rivers in the district. We recently cleaned drains to facilitate easy flow of floodwaters. We have formed teams comprising fire fighting personnel and trained volunteers and deployed them in every flood-prone village to handle the likely flood situation. We have also designated nodal officers for each taluk to monitor the rescue, relief and rehabilitation work. Relief centres have been opened in every taluk,” Ms. Jyothsna told the meeting.