Rescue operations were underway on Friday to trace over 45 people missing following flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in three districts of Himachal Pradesh, officials said on Friday.
An NDRF team is deployed to rescue miners allegedly trapped in an abandoned coal mine in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, but operations are delayed as the exact location remains unidentified. Officials claim no signs of an incident have been found, while local residents and politicians allege a mine collapse during illegal mining activities.
Apart from 15 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 12 teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), personnel of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Indian Coast Guard and Border Security Force (BSF) are deployed for relief and rescue operations, officials said.
An alert has been sounded across Assam as cyclone 'Mahasen' is likely to hit the northeastern states on Thursday night, officials have said. All boats and ferry services on Brahmaputra have been closed for the next three days and fishermen have been directed not to venture out to the river.
'When our soldiers trained side by side, we demonstrated to the world that our partnership is strong, enduring and prepared to meet any challenge.'
The torrential rain that took place between September 27 and 30 has created a flood-like situation in 15 districts of the state, including the state capital.
Glimpses of the preparations in Odisha and West Bengal for Cyclone Dana which is expected to make landfall between October 24 and 25.
A four-storey residential building in Delhi's Mustafabad collapsed on Saturday morning, killing four people and trapping many others under the rubble. Rescue teams are working to pull survivors from the debris, but the collapse has been described as a "pancake collapse" where chances of survival are minimal.
The federal contingency force has taken out 44 victims alive and 71 bodies from the mangled railway coaches in Balasore district since its first team reached the accident site around 8:30 pm on Friday.
How to conduct the mock exercise with active public participation of people was discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan. Top civil and police officers of the country participated in the meeting, official sources 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.
Police heads of various units across Gujarat have been instructed to be on "alert mode" and keep a close watch on anti-social elements as well as sensitive areas to avoid any untoward incident.
The rain and flood situation in northeastern states remained grim on Tuesday, with lakhs people affected in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur, even as the meteorological department predicted more rain in several parts of the region.
Monsoon hit the state on June 20 and has since then cost it Rs 5,000 crore in damages.
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.
At the devastated Tapovan power project site rescuers worked nonstop even as the odds of finding the trapped workers alive seemed slim.
After making landfall near Puducherry on November 30, Cyclone Fengal weakened on Sunday, but torrential downpour under its influence paralysed the union territory, with the Army stepping in to evacuate stranded persons in inundated streets.
Five people were killed and about 50 missing following several incidents of cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh where rains washed away many houses, bridges and roads, officials said on Thursday.
The India meteorological department on Sunday issued an 'orange' alert for Gujarat, saying the state was expected to receive "heavy to very heavy rainfall" on July 24.
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday claimed that the state has achieved its 'Zero Casualty Mission' as there has been no report regarding any loss of human life or injury in the severe cyclonic storm Dana which made landfall in the coast on Thursday night.
They said the incident occurred around 4 am when a 150-metre-long portion of the four-and-a-half-kilometer-long tunnel collapsed.
'You are talking as if Patna has been the only place which has suffered on account of heavy rain. What happened in Mumbai and America when these places were battered by similar downpour?'
'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.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said saving lives and extending all help to the families of the deceased is the state government's priority.
A chlorine gas leak in the Jhajhra area of Dehradun triggered panic on Tuesday morning, forcing people to leave their homes, officials said.
At least 28 people died in rain-related incidents Sunday as heavy downpours lashed north and northwest India, causing landslides, traffic chaos and house collapses, as well as a dam breach which inundated several villages in Haryana.
Rescue efforts continue in Telangana for eight people trapped in a collapsed tunnel, but hopes for their survival are fading as experts from the Geological Survey of India and the National Geographical Research Institute have been brought in. The tunnel is filled with debris, making the rescue operation extremely difficult. Despite relentless efforts by the Indian Army, Navy, NDRF, and other agencies, no breakthrough has been achieved so far.
More than a dozen Mountain Rescue Teams assisted thousands of pilgrims during this year's Amarnath pilgrimage in the south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said on Monday, as the annual yatra concluded with more than 5.10 lakh pilgrims offering prayers at the cave shrine.
Telangana Minister J Krishna Rao told reporters that the chances of survival under the circumstances are "not that good."
Indian rescue personnel are being lauded for their compassion and expertise in assisting with the recovery efforts in earthquake-stricken Mandalay, Myanmar. The story of a Muslim family resisting initial attempts to recover a deceased loved one from the rubble, ultimately accepting the help of Indian rescuers who preserved the dignity of the woman's final posture in prayer, highlights the sensitivity and skill of the Indian team. The NDRF has rescued around 30 bodies and is working tirelessly in different locations, including the historic U Hla Thein monastery and Ganga Ghat Hindu Temple, where many are still missing. The Indian Army has also set up a field hospital, treating over 200 patients, and providing food to earthquake victims.
The decision was taken in a high-level review meeting chaired by principal secretary to prime minister PK Mishra.
'What we are witnessing is not a freak incidence or a freak occurrence, but a new climate reality where warming oceans, monsoon variability and local geography are combining to produce extreme events.'
All efforts should be on relief, restoration and rehabilitation, Nadda told reporters in Shimla after visiting the rain-affected areas of Poanta in Sirmaur and Shimla town.
It has been a week since 41 labourers got trapped inside an under-construction tunnel at Silkyara in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district after parts of the structure collapsed following a landslide last Sunday.
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.
Landslides triggered by incessant rain snapped rail and road links, an official bulletin said.
The government declared Monday (Dec 4) a public holiday and urged private companies to encourage 'work from home' option for its employees in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts.
"The international community should get onboard so that the environmental balance is not destroyed," he said.
National Disaster Response Force teams were rushed from Delhi to the affected areas in both Pithoragarh and Chamoli districts to help in the rescue operations along with along with State Disaster Response Force, Sashastra Seema Bal and Indo-Tibetan Border Police and local agencies, officials said.
Two dozen students and four teachers were on a picnic and taking a boat ride in the Harni lake when the tragedy occurred in the afternoon, they said.
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