Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], February 28 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a review meeting with the Irrigation and Water Resources Department officials. CM Yogi instructed the officials to find a permanent solution to floods and survey all the local river conditions.
He further stated that the officials should prioritise dredging in places where the river's main stream is filled with silt. CM Yogi suggested that river dredging and channelisation are systematic measures to prevent floods.
During the meeting, CM Yogi Adityanath ordered the officials to clean the drains until March 31 and instructed them to complete the projects related to flood protection within the stipulated time limit. The Chief Minister said there would be no budget revision.
While reviewing the ongoing preparations for flood management and the safety of public life with senior government officers, the Chief Minister also reviewed the updated status of flood-sensitive districts and completed and pending projects.
The Chief Minister said that the well-planned efforts made in the last eight years to find a permanent solution to the problem of floods, which has been a factor for decades in extensive loss of life and property in the state, have yielded good results.
The number of flood-sensitive districts has been reduced unprecedentedly. Per experts' advice, we have succeeded in minimizing the threat from floods by using the latest technology. Good work has been done through inter-departmental coordination to protect public life from floods.
In the meeting, Principal Secretary Irrigation informed the Chief Minister that, giving top priority to the safety of public wealth, 1575 flood projects have been completed from 2018-19 to now. Of these, 305 projects were completed in 2024-25 alone. Efforts made in 2024-25 have benefited 4.97 lakh hectares of land and a population of 60.45 lakh.
The Chief Minister directed that the remaining work of the projects scheduled for the current session be completed within the stipulated time on a priority basis. He said that project delays not only affect the work but also increase the financial budget. In such a situation, all should be completed within the stipulated time frame. The budget of any project will not be revised.
The Chief Minister said that 24 districts in the state are in the most sensitive category in terms of floods. These include Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, Gorakhpur, Basti, Bahraich, Bijnor, Siddharthnagar, Ghazipur, Gonda, Ballia, Deoria, Sitapur, Balrampur, Ayodhya, Mau, Farrukhabad, Shravasti, Badaun, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Sant Kabir Nagar, Pilibhit and Barabanki.
Whereas Saharanpur, Shamli, Aligarh, Bareilly, Hamirpur, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Rampur, Prayagraj, Bulandshahr, Moradabad, Hardoi, Varanasi, Unnao, Lucknow, Shahjahanpur and Kasganj are sensitive. Here, the department will have to remain in alert mode. Senior officials should inspect the most sensitive and the sensitive embankments.
The Chief Minister said that 523 embankments of 3869 km length have been built on various rivers to protect the state from floods, while there are 10727 drains of 60047 km length. Because of the possibility of floods, all embankments should be continuously monitored.
Flood relief control rooms at the state and district levels should be in active mode 24X7. He said that the proposed works in Shravasti, Gonda, Sitapur, Hardoi, and Barabanki should be completed on time and with quality. Along with this, continuous monitoring should be done to ensure that no illegal mining activity takes place in the rivers.