Multiple teams of the force, with personnel wearing protective gear and helmets, were rushed to the Tapovan power project site from their 1st battalion base in Joshimath and the ITBP mountaineering and skiing institute located nearby in Auli to launch search and rescue works.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said efforts are on to rescue the 300 stranded people, and they could be airlifted as the weather clears. Power and water supply has been snapped in several areas.
'The Weather Channel argues that India faces the gravest challenge: Climate change-induced health vulnerability.' 'This is an issue often neglected, alerts Claude Arpi: "Prolonged summers, unpredictable rains, floods, droughts, and rising sea levels are the harsh realities of climate change in the country. These factors increase the frequency and severity of illnesses, pushing people into poverty, and forcing migration".'
Groups of relatives have gathered at the Tapovan tunnel, hoping that their loved ones will emerge alive from its mouth.
It stands at a distance watching soundlessly as multiple teams work to reach those buried under mounds of debris and is sometimes heard breaking into howls of anguish -- a canine sentinel watching the rescue mission in its search for its missing puppies.
At least 50 major landslides occurred in just four road stretches in calamity-torn Uttarakhand, where hundreds of pilgrims are feared to have perished in flash floods, an official said.
President Droupadi Murmu on Monday asked scientists and policymakers across the world to give special attention to global warming and climate change which are leading to flash floods and droughts, warning that a "culture of greed" is taking "the world away from nature".
The flood-hit religious destinations of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri, where rescue operations are underway, would again record heavy rains from Thursday, the India Meteorological Department said on Friday. It also predicted "rather heavy showers" in Hemkund Sahib, another religious destination hit by flash floods and heavy rains, from Wednesday.
At least 16 people have been killed while 15,000 pilgrims, who were stranded near the Amarnath holy cave in Kashmir due to a flash flood triggered by a cloudburst, have been shifted to the lower base camp in Panjtarni, officials said on Saturday.
Incessant rains unleashed more death and destruction on Monday in parts of north India, with 37 people killed in landslides and other rain-related incidents in the last two days even as the Army and NDRF teams stepped in to intensify the relief and rescue operations.
The restoration work of the Kedarnath shrine, which was destroyed in last year's floods, will be done by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Rishabh Pant, who hails from Uttarakhand extended condolences to the families
Months after the devastating flood ruined their life, the people of Poonch are today totally isolated. They feel they have been left unheard, once again.
A flood alert was sounded on Thursday in Srinagar city as River Jhelum was flowing four feet above the danger mark after incessant rain, while 23 villages have been inundated by floods in south Kashmir districts of Anantnag and Kulgam.
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Tuesday said that he had asked the Uttarakhand government not to allow any VIP to land in the flood ravaged areas in the state to pre-empt any disturbance to relief work.
As Kerala gets into the festive mood, police are maintaining tight vigil with the army receiving information that there may be a terror attack in southern parts of the country.
A massive thunderstorm caused flash flooding in Toronto, cutting power to 3,00,000 in the city, shutting down subways, and leaving about 1,400 passengers stranded for hours on a commuter train.
The military's earthquake relief operations in Gujarat, Kashmir and Sikkim, and rescue work during the Ladakh flash floods highlight that it is the only effective disaster response force in the country, says Ajai Shukla
The water level rose above the danger mark in Haridwar and Delhi and the level at Bhakra dam was a foot above the permissible mark.
A bench of justices A K Patnaik and Ranjan Gogoi directed the governments to deploy a sufficient number of helicopters to rescue flood-affected people in the area. "We direct as an interim measure that all stranded people be provided immediate relief by the state and district authorities by giving them food, medicines and other essential things including fuel," the bench said.
Floods triggered by the torrential rain since June 14 have wreaked havoc, inundating a vast swathe of flat land in the south and southwest of the country.
Over 500 soldiers, 1,000 people and 62 speedboats have been sent for rescue work while more than 10,000 people have been sent to ensure the safety of river banks.
All the action from football matches played in Europe on Wednesday
The Kedarnath temple committee has expressed dissatisfaction over the restoration work being carried out by ASI at the shrine which was damaged in last year's flash floods in Uttarakhand, but the government agency has squarely rejected these claims.
US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke has said that the aid being given to Pakistan in the aftermath of the flash floods is inadequate.
More than 150 labourers working in a power project are missing, officials said.
Several deaths were reported across the country due to rain-related incidents like lightning strikes and drowning.
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.
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.
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.
A study by an international team of researchers had warned two year ago that the South Lhonak lake in Sikkim may burst in the future and significantly impact the downstream region.
Ahead of this election, the alliance between the BJP and the SKM had broken down. One reason is the fear that like Article 370, Article 371F might also be changed.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
"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.
