Making a statement in the House "regarding an avalanche in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand", the Union minister said these inputs were based on the information received till Monday 5 pm from the state government.
A portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, triggering an avalanche and a deluge in the Alaknanda river system that washed away hydroelectric stations, leaving at least seven people dead and 125 missing who are feared dead.
Sacred portals of the Kedarnath temple were reopened to devotees amid elaborate rituals early on Sunday morning, about a year after the Himalayan shrine was marred by flash floods that had left hundreds of people dead and many others stranded.
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.
One Indian student has died after he nearly drowned in a swollen lake in Texas.
Amid fears of epidemic outbreak, the mass cremation process in Kedarnath, worst-hit in the Uttarakhand flash floods, was expedited, even as air operations to evacuate stranded people from Badrinath was Thursday halted with the weather packing up.
Three Army jawans were killed in two flood-related road accidents at Tenga and Bomdir in Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday. Army sources at Tezpur said two Army jawans were killed when their vehicles, carrying eight persons, hurtled down the hilly road at Bomdir, 30 km from Tawang, on July 30. On Saturday, another jawan was killed in a landslide at Tenga, sources said. Torrential rains since July 27 have caused flash floods and landslides.
A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rains of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while an orange alert means very heavy rains of 6 cm to 20 cm of rain.
Heavy rains in the last three days triggered flash floods in parts of Bihar, where 41 people have died so far, and inundated large areas in Assam and North Bengal, paralysing normal life and snapping rail link to the Northeast from the rest of the country.
Titan's October-December quarter (Q3) business update claims 22-23 per cent revenue growth in the standalone jewellery sales (excluding bullion sales), implying a 4-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.3 per cent. Store additions also looked healthy, with 21 new Tanishq stores opened in Q3, taking the total count to 466 (+43 in 9 months of FY24) including two in the US and one in Singapore. Titan added 90 stores in Q3, pushing its total retail outlets to 2,949 (including CaratLane).
India cricketer Harbhajan Singh, who was stranded in Joshimath due to incessant rains while on a pilgrimage, was rescued and taken to safety by the Indian Air Force.
Rains continued to lash most parts of north India on Tuesday, affecting normal life in the region.
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At least 16 people have died in flood-related incidents in Odisha, where the situation remained grim even as major rivers were receding on Saturday. Two deaths each were reported from Bhadrak, Jajpur and Nayagarh districts while in worst-hit Ganjam district it remained unchanged at six and four in Jagatsinghpur, Special Relief Commissioner P K Mohapatra told reporters here after the situation was reviewed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
"Our house is gone, household goods have perished and all our animals killed. We did not have anything to eat," said Chamail Singh of Rajouri district while showering praise on Indian Air Force for air-dropping food items and other relief material.
As the weather improved in parts of north India, which was pummelled by heavy rains for days, authorities on Wednesday worked on a war footing to rescue stranded tourists, restore vehicular traffic on arterial roads and prevent floodwaters from entering new areas.
Unofficial sources put the toll in the twin tragedies at 100.
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.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh on Saturday accused the Congress-led United Progresive Alliance government of bluffing the country over the number of lives lost in the recent Uttarakhand flash floods.
It has noted that melting glaciers due to any impact of climate change will not only severely affect the flow in Himalayan river system but will also give rise to natural disasters.
An old couple, who survived the massive Uttarakhand flash floods triggered by incessant rains, said it was as if a "second life had been granted to them".
A Rediff.com correspondent spells out the trail of destruction in Uttarakhand as it tries to come to terms with the catastrophic monsoons.
The IMD also issued a red alert in the same 10 districts for August 3 also.
Three more bodies were recovered from the National Thermal Power Corporation's flood-ravaged Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project site on Saturday taking the toll in the February 7 glacial disaster in Uttarakhand to 65, officials said.
Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday spoke to Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and urged him to evacuate pilgrims stranded in Uttarkashi region of Uttarakhand in the aftermath of flash floods there.
India recorded 125 extremely heavy rainfall events during September and October of 2021, the highest in five years, owing to late withdrawal of the southwest monsoon and higher-than-normal low-pressure systems, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.
'The problem is that all this reconstruction work is being monitored by the prime minister himself with inputs being provided directly by the PMO so nobody in the state government dare contradict them even if their suggestions are totally contrary to what the ecology of this region requires.'
"Yeh kaam hamare ghar ka hai, duty ka nahin (The rescue work we are doing is personal work for us and not just a part of official duty)," an Indo-Tibetan Border Police jawan, who hails from Kumaon region, said.
Top commanders of the Indian Army deliberated on the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel-Hamas conflict at a five-day conclave to draw relevant lessons besides focusing on ways to make the force 'future ready' in line with with emerging contours of threats and challenges.
A large number of people are feared trapped in the debris and rescue operations have been launched, Disaster Management and Mitigation department officials in Dehrdun said citing initial reports.
At least 13 people lost their lives as heavy rains swept across the Northern region with many rivers rising above the danger mark and inundating several villages.
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.
Shutters of at least 22 reservoirs in the state have been opened to drain out excess water.
According to the state government, 60,000 tourists have so far been evacuated from the hill state.
Heavy rains lashed Saurashtra region and Kutch district creating a flash flood like situation in Bhuj town, where over 15,000 people were evacuated by local administration, National Disaster Response Force was deployed and Army and Border Security Force have been asked to remain on stand by.
The capital of Georgia has been placed on lockdown after heavy flooding destroyed enclosures at the city's zoo allowing tigers, lions, jaguars, wolves, jackals and a hippo to escape and roam the streets.
DGCA had earlier directed all airlines not to charge anything extra from passengers from Srinagar and Jammu.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, along with senior Cabinet ministers, arrived in Leh on Tuesday on a day-long visit to take stock of the relief and rehabilitation work undertaken in the aftermath of the recent flash floods. He is expected to announce a Rs 250-crore package for the victims. The prime minister is accompanied by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will go on a daylong visit on Tuesday to Leh, which has been hit by cloudburst and flash floods that claimed around 200 lives and left over 400 injured
Six Indian Air Force aircraft carrying relief material, rescue workers and doctors landed in Leh on Saturday to provide succour to the people of the region affected by cloudburst and flash floods.
