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.
'Till 10 pm last night, we rescued 70 people, after which we had to stop because of bad weather and rain.'
Eighteen people were killed and five others injured after a firecracker warehouse exploded and collapsed in Gujarat's Banaskantha district on Tuesday. The incident occurred in an industrial area near Deesa town around 9:45 a.m., killing workers from Madhya Pradesh and their family members. The warehouse was used to store firecrackers, but there is no evidence that firecrackers were being manufactured there. The Gujarat government has announced financial assistance for the victims' families.
The CRPF has created an exclusive team of about 1,800 personnel within its special anti-riots wing Rapid Action Force (RAF) to act as responders against CBRN attacks and various other disasters, a senior officer of the force said on Thursday.
Western Railway stated that local train services were running normally on Monday morning, however, commuters claimed trains were running late by 5 to 10 minutes.
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.
So far, over 30 people have died across Northeastern states due to heavy rainfalls, floods and landslides, according to media reports.
The Navy has has kept five flood teams and three diving teams on stand-by in Mumbai, the official said. These teams, trained and equipped for rescue operations, are stationed at various naval areas across Mumbai and can provide early response over a larger area, he said.
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.
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.
Glimpses of the preparations in Odisha and West Bengal for Cyclone Dana which is expected to make landfall between October 24 and 25.
'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.'
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
In Chamoli district, a flood-like situation has developed along the banks of a dozen rivers, including Alaknanda and its tributaries Pindar, Nandakini and Birhi.
Telangana Minister J Krishna Rao told reporters that the chances of survival under the circumstances are "not that good."
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.
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.
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.
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.
At the devastated Tapovan power project site rescuers worked nonstop even as the odds of finding the trapped workers alive seemed slim.
'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.
A chlorine gas leak in the Jhajhra area of Dehradun triggered panic on Tuesday morning, forcing people to leave their homes, officials said.
'This tragedy will not be the last -- you shall witness another tomorrow, perhaps another the day after, and increasingly more.'
The shocking scenes of physical and psychological trauma unfolded on a massive scale as search and rescue operations were underway, digging out mud-buried bodies and rescuing the injured trapped in slush and rocks after flash floods triggered by a cloudburst devastated Chositi village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district 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.
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.
'Famine in Gaza is not a failure of logistics or aid. What is to blame is deliberate starvation caused by a brutal war.' 'Any child dying in a war zone is a vote of no confidence against humanity.'
'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?'
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.
Severe cyclonic storm Mandous will cross the coast between north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh around December 9 night and early next day, the regional weather office said on Friday.
They said the incident occurred around 4 am when a 150-metre-long portion of the four-and-a-half-kilometer-long tunnel collapsed.
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.
Hydrology experts suggest that India cannot be directly blamed for the devastating monsoon flooding in Pakistan this year, citing greater destruction upstream of the border and lack of evidence for intentional action.
Landslides triggered by incessant rain snapped rail and road links, an official bulletin said.
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.
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