Food packets and water bottles were being aerially dropped to marooned people, he added.
'Except that the population was much less.' 'I remember my uncle and family moving away from the base of a hill whenever it rained for more than a couple of days without a dry day in between.' 'Perhaps the older generations knew if it rained for more than a certain time, they must pack up to a camp or to a relative.' 'As some of the interviews of the survivors on the Malayalam television channels show, the elderly people had a premonition a tragedy would happen, and those who acted on those premonitions survived.'
Over 1,42,000 people have been rescued from the flood-ravaged parts of Jammu and Kashmir so far, as the relief operations launched by the Armed forces entered the 12th day on Saturday.
India cricketers Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin dedicated the team's 3-0 Test win against South Africa to the Chennai flood victims and also lauded the Indian Army for their rescue and relief work.
Around 1,500 villages across Uttar Pradesh are trying to struggle to stay afloat after flood fury hit them hard due to the release of overflowing water from dams in Nepal last Sunday.
The maximum death toll has been reported from Idukki district, where 43 people have lost their lives so far, as per official estimates. 28 deaths were reported in Malappuram and 27 in Thrissur.
Making a statement in the House "regarding an avalanche in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand", the Union minister said these inputs were based on the information received till Monday 5 pm from the state government.
Bharadwaj said it has not rained in Delhi in the last 3-4 days, yet still the water level in Yamuna reached 208.66 metres.
The Indian contingent of more than 300 navy personnel was assisting in the relief, with divers searching the brackish waters and medical teams seeing patients in makeshift tents set up at shelters.
The flood situation remained grim in Assam on Tuesday, with the deluge inundating 167 villages in the largest river island Majuli besides washing away a baby rhino in Kaziranga National park.
The state government was informed about the Rs 500 crore bill by the Union home ministry through a letter dated February 6.
One wonders where the inestimable Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his gang of separatist leaders have disappeared.
With the rise in level of the Ganga, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed apprehension of further rise in water level by Monday in view of release of water from Bansagar dam as flood-like situation prevailed in the state.
The Supreme Court on Friday said "a calamity and disaster" as huge as the one witnessed in Jammu and Kashmir floods "deserves national response" and asked the Centre to apprise it on Monday on the urgent steps undertaken to accelerate rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took stock of the flood situation in Tamil Nadu and discussed it with his cabinet colleagues, including the Home and Finance ministers.
Only traces of rainfall were recorded in a few areas of the national capital on Thursday which continued to experience sultry weather.
Army and civil administration personnel along with teams of National Disaster Management and NGOs are engaged in relief and rescue operations in the region.
With the threat of disease outbreak lurking in flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir, efforts have been initiated on a war-footing to provide medical staff and medicines even as rescue operations were slightly hampered on Sunday due to return of rains in the Valley.
Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag on Wednesday said the forces would continue to work through "day and night" to render relief to the affected people in Kashmir.
A photograph of Kumar snapped while scurrying across the bridge with the child two days ago, has gone viral on the social media with people showering praise on him.
Former union minister and senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz was hackled in one of the relief camps in Kashmir with flood victims expressing anger over alleged absence of state government officials during relief works.
An ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh will be given per person to the next of kin of those killed in the floods.
Jalore, Sirohi, Pali and Barmer districts are the most affected and facing flood-like situations, the official said.
The Army, the National Disaster Response Force, police and the fire force along with the locals began rescue operations on Sunday morning at Koottickal and Kokkayar panchayats where over a dozen people are listed to be missing due to numerous landslides accompanied by heavy downpour since Saturday.
The decision to suspend the operations was taken after shutters of the Idamalayar and Cheruthoni dams, part of Idukki reservoir, were opened on Tuesday evening to release excess water.
Modi assured to extend all required assistance to the state to face the situation, the Chief Minister's office said.
When calamity strikes, it does not discriminate. This was on ample display when floods ravaged Kashmir.
As Kerala gets into the festive mood, police are maintaining tight vigil with the army receiving information that there may be a terror attack in southern parts of the country.
According to officials, the Ganga was flowing at 463.20 metres following which water filled up in Sangam Ghat, Ramkund, Dhaneshwar Ghat and Fuladi Ghat. There was also a tremendous jump in the water level of the Ganga after 2,000-3,000 cusecs of water was released from the dam of the GVK hydroelectric project built on the Alaknanda river.
With the flood threat continuing to loom large over the valley, the Army has started the evacuation process in Srinagar as the city experienced fresh rainfall on Tuesday.
Death was staring them in the face as flood waters rapidly rose and there were no rescuers in sight. Relief came only after the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and teams from the National Disaster Rescue Force swung into action with the needed equipment. And with that, dimming hopes soared up, says our correspondent Mukhtar Ahmad, who himself had a narrow escape in Srinagar.
The water level rose above the danger mark in Haridwar and Delhi and the level at Bhakra dam was a foot above the permissible mark.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought an immediate relief of Rs 1,000 crore for restoration works in the flood-affected areas of the state.
The body of a junior commissioned officer was retrieved from a stream in the Poshana area of Surankote late Saturday evening, while the body of a second soldier was found this morning as the water level started receding in the district.
'Since there is no photo-op, or quick fix solutions, politicians do not want to address climate change. It is very unfashionable.'
For all the blame-game over the flood preparedness in Chennai and elsewhere in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, this is not the first of its kind. Nor would it be the last, given the nature of the north-east monsoon, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The flood-ravaged city was on Saturday struggling to return to normalcy with partial restoration of telecommunication and train services.
Six persons drowned in flood-hit areas of Uttar Pradesh where major rivers continued to flow above the danger mark, official sources said on Tuesday. "Since Monday afternoon, six persons, including three children, an infant and a teenager died due to drowning in different parts of Hardoi, taking the toll in rain-related incidents in the district to 16," they said. The Army and administration were carrying out rescue and relief operations.
At least 15 people have died in heavy floods and landslides triggered by continuous rain for the last three days in Assam, where airforce helicopters, army, National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force have been pressed into service for rescue work, officials said.
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