Assam reeled under devastating floods caused by incessant rain, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking stock of the situation and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visiting several relief camps sheltering affected people on Saturday, officials said.
The floods have affected 31 lakh people across 13 districts and also widely damaged crops in different parts of the state.
A total of 1.79 lakh hectare agricultural land was submerged and around 90 per cent of rhino habitats -- the Kaziranga National Park and the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary -- are under water.
The three districts are among over a dozen in the state that were lashed by incessant rain for close to 48 hours bringing normal business to a grinding halt and disrupting rail and road traffic in most places.
Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, was caught in a massive flood of unprecedented scale on Thursday, leaving hundreds of pilgrims stranded even as a heavy downpour under the influence of a depression in Bay of Bengal battered the temple-town Tirupati and many parts of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh.
Officials in districts bordering Maharashtra have been asked to maintain contact with their counterparts there regarding the release of water from dams, following reports of heavy rains in the neighboring states.
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) was forced to suspend the operation after flooding was reported at the underground Acharya Atre Chowk station.
The massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river triggered by a glacial burst in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday came as a grim reminder of the Kedarnath deluge of 2013 which led to widespread devastation in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region.
The total number of people killed in flooding and landslides in the state this year has gone up to 76. While 50 people were killed in inundation, 26 died due to landslides.
An overloaded boat carrying 38 people capsized on Sunday close to the 'Pavitra Sangamam'.
According to IMD, the cyclonic storm weakened into a 'deep depression' at 11:30 pm on Friday over Southeast Pakistan.
The maximum damage has been reported from Mandi, Kangra and Chamba districts, he said, adding that so far 36 weather-related incidents have been reported from the state.
Twenty-seven mountaineers remained missing on Wednesday after rescue workers brought 14 injured members of their team to safety, a day after an avalanche claimed 10 lives in Uttarkashi.
Near the temple, a group of locals shouted 'Murdabad' slogans in protest when Chouhan was on way to console the victims' families.
The floods have also damaged crops in 2 lakh hectares of land.
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.
A packed beyond capacity bus carrying passengers returning to work after Diwali fell into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand's Almora district on Monday, killing at least 36 of the over 60 people on board.
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.
Two passengers were killed and 34 injured when eight coaches of the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derailed near Gonda in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, an official said.
The India Meteorological Department has issued a 'Red Alert' and predicted 'very heavy' to 'extremely heavy' rainfall across several districts of Assam till Thursday.
Nearly 86 lakh people in the state's 32 districts have been affected by heavy rain and subsequent floods this year, bringing life to a screeching halt in many parts.
Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, better known as P S Golay, on Friday said that the Himalayan state has incurred damages worth thousands of crores of rupees in the flash flood.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's sudden resignation after only a year in office has thrown Japan into political turmoil, raising doubts about how the country will handle economic and regional challenges, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
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.
The building, which housed godowns on the ground and first floors and four families on the top floor, collapsed at 1.45 pm on Saturday at Wardhaman Compound in Valpada of Mankoli area.
Two more died in the state today. With this, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood and landslide has gone up to 115 across the state -- 89 were killed in flood-related incidents and 26 in landslides.
Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belts of Maharashtra and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat.
The estimated strength of these nine teams is about 240 personnel, they said.
Over 100 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force, along with police teams, are waiting for the water level to subside to begin rescue operations, the official said.
A defence spokesperson said that nine persons were stranded on the terrace of a building close to the Ulhas river near Kalyan.
At least 12 passengers were killed and two others missing after a Maharashtra state transport bus fell into the Narmada river from a bridge in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district on Monday, officials said.
Thirteen teams of the National Disaster Response Force and three of the State Disaster Response Force were deployed in vulnerable districts of the state, a disaster management department report said.
The flooding in Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra has left people without homes and brought about destruction worth crores.
Groups of relatives have gathered at the Tapovan tunnel, hoping that their loved ones will emerge alive from its mouth.
National Disaster Response Force teams and Krishna district authorities have launched a massive search and rescue operation to trace the missing people.
The rescue operations, which were halted late Tuesday night, resumed on Wednesday morning and two more bodies were retrieved from the canal, which is part of the Bansagar dam project, Sidhi's Additional Superintendent of Police Anjulata Patle said.
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.
All State Disaster Management Acts have been formed as part of the central disaster management law; hence the state needs the Union government's permission to use the SDRF for helping the pandemic-hit people, a government official said on Thursday.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced Rs 10,000 as immediate relief to each flood-hit household in Hyderabad, lashed by incessant rains since last week, besides an assistance of Rs 1 lakh each to those whose houses were completely destroyed and Rs 50,000 for the partially damaged.
A cylinder exploded in a tent at the Digambar Ani Akhara at the Kumbh Mela site.
