Inter-Ministerial meeting reviews flood in Guj, Mah

New Delhi, July 30: In the wake of heavy rains in Gujarat and Maharashtra, Home Secretary V K Duggal chaired an inter-ministerial meeting to review the situation.

The meeting held last night was attended by officials from Ministry of Defence, Air Force, India Meteorological Department, Central Water Commission and resident commissioners of Maharashtra.

One army column each has been deployed in Satara, Sangli, Sholapur, Kolhapur, besides keeping one NDRF (national disaster management force) battalion each as standby in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Two choppers in Pune are on standby.

Airforce and Navy are asked to be in ready state.

Issue of release of water from dams also came up for discussion at the meeting, offficial sources said here today.

Both the states have been asked to keep exchanging information between themselves and the Centre.

The Centre and its agencies are also constantly watching the situation, the sources said.

UNI