Here are some photographs of how the state is gearing up for cyclone Nisarga.
More than 50 workers were at work in the night shift when the mishap occurred in unit-4.
'Imagine hanging from a thin steel cable under a helicopter with certain death staring at you below, being pulled up slowly in the din and downwash of the helicopter.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, a helicopter pilot himself, reports on how the air force rescued those trapped in the Deoghar cable cars disaster last fortnight.
The state government asked the local administration to shift people from low-lying areas in Vadodara if needed as water entered into houses in several localities.
Police said around half-a-dozen dumper trucks and some machines were buried under the debris caused by the landslide which occurred around 9 am in Tosham block.
The NDRF said the building was filled with hazardous carbon monoxide.
Tracing the remaining persons was proving a daunting task as the river remained in spate with over two lakh cusecs of floodwater gushing, sources said.
After the initial release of funds, the central government follows certain rules and guidelines before awarding the final aid to any state for a natural calamity.
The Met Department has predicted light to moderate rainfall across parts of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha with the probability of the severe cyclonic storm 'Asani' recurving.
The National Disaster Response Force personnel were pressed into service soon after the incident and rescue and search operations were underway, police said.
Chiplun, Khed and several other towns in Ratnagiri and parts of neighbouring Raigad bore the brunt of the torrential rain and the subsequent floods over the last few days, with several rivers in the region flowing above the danger mark. Although the water level has receded to a large extent in most of the affected parts, the floods have left a trail of large scale damage - from sludge and heaps of mud in the houses and roads to loss of loved ones.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the hologram statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate on Sunday evening on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary.
In an apparent swipe at previous Congress dispensations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that attempts were made after independence to erase contributions of many great people besides India's culture and values, and asserted that the country is now correcting mistakes of the past.
Cyclone Nisarga slammed Maharashtra coast with wind speeds of up to 120 kmph, making landfall at 12.30 pm at Alibaug near Mumbai. The process was completed by 2.30 pm, a senior India Meteorological Department official said. Alibaug witnessed wind speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour. It weakened into a 'deep depression' late on Wednesday evening, the IMD said.
National Disaster Response Force teams rescued more than 50 passengers including 16 badly trapped from the mangled bogies of Patna-Indore Express which derailed in Kanpur during the wee hours on Sunday.
In terms of casualties, Friday's fire at the commercial building was the largest since the blaze at a factory in the Anaj Mandi area and the second largest since the Uphaar Cinema tragedy in 1997.
Of 213 deaths, the maximum 95 were reported in Raigad district, followed by 46 in Satara, 35 in Ratnagiri, 15 in Thane, seven in Kolhapur, four in Mumbai, three in Pune, four in Sindhudurg and two each in the eastern Maharashtra's Wardha and Akola districts, said a statement issued by the disaster management department.
The chief secretary said that as the state is witnessing heavy rains over the last three days, the collectors should be on high alert and take all steps to prevent loss of life, cattle or damage to any property.
Airlines have been advised to reschedule services, to the convenience of passengers.
Mini cloud bursts are marked by intense short spells which may not exceed 10cm in one hour-a classical definition by India Meteorological Department, he noted.
A total of 113 teams were deployed by the federal contingency force in the two states and adjoining areas for launching relief and rescue in the wake of the cyclone.
The body of the trapped miner was spotted on January 16 and efforts were on to pull it out of the shaft of the coal mine filled with water.
Dominic Xavier mulls over the intriguing puzzle why the PM-CARES fund is opposed to the transparency guaranteed by the RTI.
Four people were killed and at least 10 injured Monday morning after a fire broke out in a hotel here, prompting authorities to issue orders for demolition of the four-storey building after following the 'due process'.
27 mountaineers perished in an avalanche in the mountains of Uttarakhand last week. The mountaineers were returning from a trek to the Draupadi's Danda mountain peak when disaster struck at 8.45 am in the morning.
With the tropical cyclone Tauktae set to cross the Gujarat coast and make a landfall as an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' by Monday night, the state government has shifted over 1.5 lakh people to safer places and mobilised disaster response teams.
During the heavy rains through the week here and other regions of Tamil Nadu not only inflatable boats, but preparedness, determination and presence of mind came in handy for personnel including policemen and women, civic and forest workers who rescued people, animals and snakes.
Nearly 6,000 passengers were stranded as train services on the Konkan Railway route in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district were suspended on Thursday after a river overflowed following heavy rains, while incessant downpour badly hit road and rail traffic in several parts of the state, including around Mumbai, as authorities called in NDRF to help the administration in rescue efforts.
The accident occurred when the private boat 'Ma Kamala' was headed to Majuli from Nimati Ghat and the government-owned ferry 'Tripkai' was coming from the riverine island.
At present, 2,265 villages were inundated and 1,12,667.06 hectares of crop area has been damaged across Assam, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said.
The bodies of 13 people who were killed in a landslide at Plaupally in Koottikkal village (Kanjirapally Taluk, Kottayam District) were recovered.
There were no reports of loss of life due to the cyclone which uprooted trees. Incidents of wall collapse were reported from some parts of Tamil Nadu, state Revenue Minister R B Udhayakumar said.
Here's a glimpse of how the massive rescue operation was carried out by the agencies.
On Thursday in Visakhapatnam, hundreds of villagers, most of them children suffered the consequences of the vapour leak like irritation in eyes, breathlessness, nausea and rashes, and over 100 people were admitted to government and private hospitals. Several police personnel, who came for the rescue operation, also suffered symptoms like breathlessness, irritation in eyes and fell unconscious.
In an unprecedented measure, the Maharashtra government requested defence officials to arrange airlift of the stranded passengers of the 17412 Mahalaxmi Express.
An injured soldier told reporters from the hospital that when the building collapsed, there were 35 army personnel inside it, of whom 30 were Junior Commissioned Officers and five were soldiers.
However, the National Disaster Response Force, which has been engaged in the rescue operation since the day of the tragedy on December 13 last, will continue with their services.
The IMD also issued a red alert in the same 10 districts for August 3 also.
Over 20,000 people were evacuated to safer places in these three districts. State capital Mumbai too witnessed water-logging in many areas after overnight rains on Thursday.
A Nepalese woman was miraculously rescued alive by Indian rescuers 50 hours after being buried under the rubble following the devastating earthquake that jolted the country, killing over 5,000 people.
