Discussion about protecting populated areas from floods needs to be revisited - Putin

MOSCOW. April 24 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to hold a new, large meeting to discuss flood prevention and protecting populated areas from floods.

The president held a meeting on efforts to deal with the floods aftermath which was attended by relevant Russian government officials and the heads of flood-hit regions and municipalities by videoconference on Wednesday.

"I believe it's necessary to hold another meeting, with more participants, and discuss the entire range of issues associated with flood prevention and protecting populated areas from floods," Putin said at the meeting.

"There are systemic, organizational and management problems here," he said.

"It's necessary to establish clearly what measures need to be taken by the federation, the regions, [and] local authorities. We will also discuss whether existing hydraulic facilities meet established requirements, [and] how the programs to build, modernize and maintain dams and other engineering facilities protecting territories from the negative impact of water are being implemented," he said.