Hundreds of villages have been inundated and thousands of people stranded in Bihar after heavy rains lashed the state on Sunday. Water levels in Sone and Ganga rivers rose to alarming proportions, following the sudden release of 9.58 lakh cusecs of water from Bansagar dam in Madhya Pradesh, Rihand dam in Uttar Pradesh and Muhammadganj dam in Jharkhand.
Six people have lost their lives so far in the Cyclone Tauktae-hit coastal and surrounding Malnad districts of Karnataka, officials said.
The fire department said they received a call around 4.23 am about a fire in the factory at Udoh Nagar area after which seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the official said.
The flood situation in Bihar remained grim on Monday with more than 10 lakh people affected and thousands forced to flee their homes and take shelter on highrise embankments, national highways, railway lines and in schools and other buildings
At least 38 people have been killed and 18.6 lakh affected by floods in Bihar as major rivers continue to overflow after crossing the danger mark at several places in the state. The district-wise break-up of deaths are Muzaffarpur (1), Saharsa (3), Gopalganj (2), Madhepura (1), West Champaran (4), Bhojpur (10), Purnia (1), Madhubani (2), Katihar (2), Samastipur (2), Vaishali (4), Bhagalpur (4) and Lakhisarai (2), according to State Disaster Management sources.
In a communication to chief secretaries of all states and Union Territories, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said there were reports that local level restrictions on movement were being imposed by various districts and states.
A total 4.16 lakh people have been evacuated so far from the 12 flood-affected districts of Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Vaishali, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar.
The floods have also damaged crops in 2 lakh hectares of land.
Orissa government on Tuesday decided to continue air-dropping of food packets in marooned villages as part of relief and rescue operation amid slight respite from flood fury that claimed 27 lives.
With 877 villages completely cut off from rest of the state due to high flood in Mahanadi river system, Orissa government Sunday began air-dropping of food packets in worst hit areas as the death toll rose to 16, official sources said.
Private weather agency Skymet said Mumbai is at 'serious risk of flooding' between July 3 and 5.
At least 20 persons were killed and over 30 injured when a private bus skidded off the road and plunged into a canal at Kestopur in North 24 Parganas on Friday. Two cranes pulled the bus out of the canal. Local people helped the police and fire-brigade in the rescue operations.
Railway officials also indicated that possible 'sabotage' and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains, led to the Friday accident.
Indian Air Force Friday rescued 61 persons who were trapped in a semi-frozen river in cold desert region of Ladakh.
Orissa learnt its lessons from previous cyclones, particularly the 1999 super cyclone, whereas Uttarakhand has failed to do so from any of the previous natural calamities that hit the state, says Dinesh C Sharma.
Mumbai and its adjoining areas were lashed by heavy showers on Tuesday, causing water-logging at a number of places, including railway tracks, which slowed the movement of trains and vehicles on roads.
The Delhi government has allowed reopening of bars, public parks and gardens from Monday under a phased easing of restrictions, which were imposed due to the second Covid wave.
The deep depression in Bay of Bengal that crossed the coast close to Kakinada in East Godavari district on Tuesday morning left a trail of devastation as it brought with it a massive downpour in several districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who is in Delhi, expressed grief at the loss of lives and announced a compensation of Rs two lakh each to the families of the victims.
Over 500 people have perished in the current spell of floods in Bihar with fresh reports of 23 deaths from six flood-hit districts on Monday as nearly 20.5 million people continue to reel under the impact of floods in 20 districts.
State Disaster Management Department Principal Secretary Vyasji said in Patna that the boat, with more than 65 passengers on board, capsized near Ghoria Ghat while sailing to Bhagwanpur from Ranha village.
'We requested controlled release of water without waiting for the water level in the reservoir to reach its full level.'
The flood situation in Bihar showed signs of improvement with major rivers maintaining a receding trend, even as four more deaths were reported from Darbhanga district, taking the total toll to 81.
Thousands of people in Darbhanga, West Champaran and Nalanda districts in Bihar have been affected by floods after rivers flowing through these districts breached their embankments. Floods occurred in Darbhanga and West Champaran districts after breaches developed in the embankments of Kamla Balan and Gandak rivers respectively, while in Nalanda it was due to the overflowing of Panchane river.
As many as 135 people have been killed in the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy and 170 others rescued, Gujarat minister Rajendra Trivedi said on Tuesday.
Calling malls, cinema halls, weekly markets, metro services and religious places "superspreader" areas, the Delhi government has directed all district magistrates to greatly intensify enforcement of COVID-19 norms in such places in view of a persistent rise in cases in the city.
'The situation is especially serious in major hotspot districts or emerging hotspots like Ahmedabad and Surat (Gujarat), Thane (Maharashtra), Hyderabad (Telangana), and Chennai (Tamil Nadu),' the MHA statement said.
Relatively a lesser degree of damage, including those to houses marked the landfall of cyclonic storm Mandous in Tamil Nadu and at least four people were killed in rain-related incidents, authorities said in Chennai on Saturday.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said future decisions on COVID-19 SOPs will be taken in consultation with the Union Health Ministry and the state Task Force, amid a difference between the Centre and the state over guidelines for international travellers in the wake of the new variant of SARS-CoV2.
Kerala State Disaster Management Authority has warned about the possibilities of landslides in the hilly areas already hit by extremely heavy rainfall in the past few days and directed people living in the region and government authorities to be vigilant.
"Since some of them are in a critical condition, the death toll may go up," Jalpaiguri DM Moumita Godara Basu said, adding rescuers thoroughly searched each coach for survivors and bodies through darkness and thick fog.
National Disaster Management Authority had in 2016 suggested assistance offered as a goodwill gesture 'may' be accepted.
State announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed.
Bihar Agriculture Minister Sudhakar Singh Thursday said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar could "sack" him for his perceived defiance but he will not step down unless asked to do so by the top leadership of his party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Landslides blocked roads, many villages went without electricity and the death toll climbed to 52 as authorities on Wednesday faced the aftermath of the rains that had battered Uttarakhand for over two days.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish at the loss of lives in Uttarakhand and noted that rescue operations are underway to help the affected.
At least 15 people were killed and 25 others injured when a minibus in which they were travelling overturned and fell into a pond at Dewanhat in Coochbehar district on Sunday.
The order, listing various allowed and restricted activities because of the Covid pandemic, will come into effect from November 1.
According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, one person was killed at Sissibargaon in Dhemaji district on Saturday.
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