A river regulation zone (RRZ) notification should be top priority for the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to stop annual flooding of rivers in the sub-continent.

In Orissa, the state government has had to evacuate nearly one lakh residents from low-lying areas with floods having affecting 2,550 villages and 13 towns. This year alone has seen major floods in the state of UP, Punjab, Bihar, Assam and Manipur with major rivers, including Ganga, Sutlej, Kosi and Brahmaputra rivers, flowing in spate.