Relief work gained momentum on Saturday as rainfall came to a halt in many parts of the state. When contacted, a senior official told PTI that 16 people lost their lives in rain-related incidents as per the reports received till Saturday afternoon.
In view of the widespread rains and 'red alert' for extremely heavy showers issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for several districts, control rooms are working round the clock to monitor the situation and help stranded people, he said.
While rain intensity reduced on Tuesday compared to a day ago, affecting mainly districts in the Saurashtra region, administration carried out rescue and relief operations on a large scale, shifting thousands of people to shelters.
The unrelenting heatwave sweeping large parts of the country has claimed at least 110 lives and left over 40,000 people grappling with suspected heatstroke between March 1 and June 18 this year, health ministry sources said on Thursday.
Earlier on Tuesday, Odisha Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena said that cyclone Asani is likely to reach Kakinada on the Andhra coast on Wednesday morning.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday termed as 'baseless', Union Home Minister Amit Shah's claim that the state government did not heed the Centre's warning regarding a possible natural calamity in Wayanad due to heavy rains.
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.
Rain-related incidents claimed nine more lives in Gujarat, taking the death toll to 16 in two days, while another 8,500 people were relocated and rescued from flood-affected areas with rains continuing to lash some parts of the state for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, officials said.
The state has suffered losses of Rs 4,000 crore and the figure is likely to go up as estimates continue to pour in, he said.
Heavy rains in Mumbai caused major water logging in areas like Lower Parel on Saturday, leaving residents and commuters stranded, and causing a huge traffic gridlock.
Among the fatalities recorded on Friday, the maximum 17 were from Uttar Pradesh, 14 from Bihar, five from Odisha and four from Jharkhand, where officials said more than 1,300 people are hospitalised with heatstroke conditions.
Heavy rain in the first week of July compensated for the shortfall but caused flooding in many northeastern states.
The administration is geared up for more showers as the India meteorological department has warned of heavy to very heavy rains with isolated extremely heavy rains in several districts of the state till Thursday morning.
A sudden downpour in Delhi caught citizens off guard and caused heavy waterlogging and traffic jams on Tuesday while Mumbai breathed a sigh of relief as showers stopped a day after heavy rain brought the metropolis to its knees.
Dubai was battered by Nature's fury on Monday, February 12, 2024.
Gujarat state administration is preparing to face 'Cyclone Nilofar', which has developed in the Arabian Sea and is likely to move towards the state's coast, Gujarat meteorological department said.
Six weather stations across Delhi recorded over 100 mm of rain in a single day, the India meteorological department (IMD) said on Thursday, categorising it as an "extremely intense spell".
The heat index in major metro cities in the country has majorly risen since 2010 compared to a decade earlier.
The heat wave is likely to impact parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal, the Met office said.
In a letter to the states/UTs on Saturday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan requested them to disseminate the guideline document 'National Action Plan on Heat Related Illnesses' to all districts for effective management of cases of heatwave.
Large parts of north India reeled under numbing cold on Tuesday with the mercury remaining below freezing point at most places in Jammu and Kashmir, while dense fog in the early hours of the morning hit road and rail traffic movement.
As Myanmar grapples with crises in the aftermath of deadly cyclone Nargis, another tropical storm appears headed for its shores, the India Meteorological Department said on Wednesday. The IMD, which is the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre of the World Meteorological Office, has issued a advisory on the impending extreme weather condition. The United Nations has warned that the Myanmar could face a 'second catastrophe'.
Temperatures in 17 locations breached 45 degrees Celsius on Monday, with the punishing heat affecting health and livelihoods.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday urged the Centre to intervene to ensure that levels of the Yamuna, flowing at an all-time high of 207.55 metres, don't rise further.
Reddy directed the officials to treat the storm as a major challenge to avoid loss of life and property as the winds are expected to blow gales reaching speeds of up to 110 kilometres per hour.
Kharif crops were sown in only 4.15 lakh hectares against the target of 28.27 lakh hectares till July 21 or only in 14.71 per cent of the arable land.
Tourist centres have been closed in many districts, including Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram, and a night travel ban has been imposed in the hilly areas of Idukki district.
Beijing's sky was gloomy and the ground largely deserted.
Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 248 on Saturday.
The searing heat pushed the city's peak power demand to its highest for May, while the Delhi government directed the schools that have not closed for summer vacations to do so with immediate effect.
The Integrated Test Range of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has taken various measures to protect its facilities at Chandipur and Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha, which are likely to be affected by cyclone 'Yaas', an official said.
'It is very likely to move nearly northwards for next few hour and recurve slowly north-northeastwards along Narsapur, Yanam, Kakinada, Tuni and Visakhapatnam coasts during noon to evening on Wednesday and emerge into west central Bay of Bengal off North Andhra Pradesh coasts by night,' the India Meteorological Department said in its national bulletin.
The increase in stubble burning has kicked off a political slugfest, with Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday saying that there had been a 19 per cent rise in farm fires over 2021 in Punjab and that the Aam Aadmi Party had turned the national capital into a gas chamber.
The southern districts of West Bengal, including Kolkata, woke up to light rain and an overcast sky on Monday as cyclone 'Sitrang' moved towards north Bay of Bengal, raising the likelihood of a downpour during the day and threatening to dampen Diwali festivities.
Officials in the Regional Meteorological Centre of Assam said several places in Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and Barak valley of Assam had been witnessing heavy rainfall since Thursday night.
The list of 'dos and don'ts' comes after the India meteorological department issued its first heat warning for 2023.
Operations at the Delhi airport remained normal. However, three flights were returned or diverted to the Delhi airport due to bad weather in Chandigarh, Varanasi and Lucknow on Tuesday night.
Rain and thundershower are likely to lash many parts of coastal Odisha and some other areas under the impact of the cyclonic storm 'Mahasen', centered about 760 km south of Paradip on Tuesday, the meteorological centre in Bhubaneswar said.
The air quality is expected to improve further due to wind speed favourable for the dispersion of pollutants.
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