Guwahati, 28 May (HS): Assam Governor Laxman Prasad Acharya on Wednesday reviewed the government's preparations to deal with possible seasonal floods in the state. An important meeting was held at the Raj Bhavan regarding preparations to deal with the flood, in which Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Keshav Mahanta was also present. The preparations and mutual coordination of the state and central government agencies were reviewed in the meeting.

The Governor said that during his visits to various districts and meetings with the district administration, he has observed that the state is well prepared to deal with seasonal floods. He stressed the need to further improve the strategy by learning from the experiences of previous years. He asked all the concerned departments to work in close coordination with the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), saying that coordination between the central and state agencies should be maintained. He said that dealing with floods is a collective responsibility which is in the service of the public.

In the meeting, Minister Keshav Mahanta informed about the proactive steps taken by the state government. He informed that field visits have been made mandatory for officials from development blocks to districts, so that a comprehensive strategy can be prepared by gathering ground level information. He also informed that embankments have been strengthened and efforts have been made to understand the problems of local residents by communicating with them. He thanked the Governor for his guidance and cooperation.

In the meeting, Principal Secretary of Revenue and Disaster Management Department and CEO of ASDMA Gyanendra Dev Tripathi gave a presentation on flood preparedness initiatives across the state. In this, information was given about contingency plan, infrastructural preparations and coordination protocol between agencies.

Officials of various agencies of the Central Government also participated in this important meeting and expressed their commitment to support the flood response mechanism of the state.

Officials of Governor's OSD Prof. Bechan Lal, Commissioner and Secretary SS Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary of ASDMA Meenakshi Das Nath and many other senior officials were present in the meeting.---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash