The India Meteorological Department has said that the landfall process of Cyclone 'Biparjoy' has started in Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat. The landfall process will carry on till midnight with wind speeds reaching a maximum of 140 kilometres per hour, the IMD said.
This year saw no improvement in bilateral ties as India accused Pakistan of cross-border infiltration and re-activation of terror-launching pads near the LoC.
State pegs total loss due to rains at Rs 8,481 crore.
The government was formed 10 days after Shinde raised a banner of revolt against the Shiv Sena leadership. Forty out of 55 Sena MLAs sided with Shinde, which resulted in the collapse of the two-and-a-half-year-old Maha Vikas Aghadi dispensation comprising the Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.
Surplus rain water gushed out of reservoirs while several roads here resembled swollen rivers and four persons were killed in rain related incidents in Tamil Nadu and over 60 houses suffered damage, authorities here said on Monday.
Incessant showers caused landslides and floods in various parts of the country leaving at least 17 people dead on Wednesday while thousands more were forced to move to safety as rivers swelled and water reservoirs filled up fast.
As many as 48 persons were injured in these incidents and 25 still missing, while so far, 2,29,074 persons have been evacuated from the flood and rain-affected affected areas and moved to safer places, the government said in a statement in Mumbai.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday conducted an aerial survey of rain-ravaged areas of Uttarakhand to asses the damage which the state government has pegged at Rs 7,000 crore.
Three more bodies were recovered Monday from the Tapovan tunnel, taking the toll in the Uttarakhand flash flood to 54 as hopes of finding survivors there over a week after the disaster dimmed.
CM Stalin has a procedural problem. Nominating new ministers would entail his having to seek formal permission from governor R N Ravi. Stalin does not want to interact with the person of this governor, as far as possible, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Kumaon region, under which Nainital falls, has been the worst hit by the rains which began Sunday night, killing at least 46 people in the state as houses collapsed and bridges were washed away by swollen rivers.
So far, 50 people have also been injured in these incidents, the government said in a statement.
Disaster in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh can be blamed on myopic industrialisation, urbanisation and tourism policies.
The Maharashtra government has decided to reduce the value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 3 per litre respectively, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said in Mumbai on Thursday.
Hundreds of people complained that they had to go without food and sleep in the aftermath of cyclone, which has wreaked havoc in Bengal, as their homes lay inundated amid heavy showers that continued to pummel several parts of the state.
Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat on Thursday evening with a wind speed of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph as heavy rains lashed the coastal region, where several areas plunged into darkness due to power cuts and a large number of trees, electric poles and hoardings got uprooted.
Nearly 6,000 passengers were stranded as train services on the Konkan Railway route in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district were suspended on Thursday after a river overflowed following heavy rains, while incessant downpour badly hit road and rail traffic in several parts of the state, including around Mumbai, as authorities called in NDRF to help the administration in rescue efforts.
The move to declare those who continue to be missing in the flash flood as presumed dead has been initiated to expedite the process of distribution of compensation among the affected families, he said.
Gusty winds and heavy rains lashed several parts of Goa on Sunday morning due to cyclonic storm Tauktae, uprooting electric poles and affecting power supply in many parts of the coastal state, officials said.
The families of workers missing from the Rishiganga hydel project site created a ruckus in Raini on Wednesday accusing the authorities of not carrying out the rescue operations properly after the sudden flood in the Alaknanda river system wreaked havoc.
The chief minister still has time to repair the damage but he will have to act all-round, both at the government and party levels, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish at the loss of lives in Uttarakhand and noted that rescue operations are underway to help the affected.
Announcing the start of day-time domestic commercial operations, the Airports Authority of India said on Saturday night that decision on night operations would be taken on Sunday.
A total of 50 people, including 11 from Hyderabad, died in rain-related incidents in the state. Chief Minister K Chandrasekar Rao urged the Centre to release Rs 1,350 crore immediately towards relief work and wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this connection.
Relief and restoration work was stepped up on Tuesday in areas ravaged by twin calamity of Cyclone Phailin and resultant floods in Odisha, which affected over 1.2 crore people in more than 16,000 villages and claimed 26 lives. Of the 26, five people died in floods.
The complex, parts of which are over 250 years old, is situated on the banks of the Ganga and is endowed with high ceilings, huge doors, and hanging skylights.
A total 34 aircraft of various airlines were stranded at the airport due to the flooding caused by torrential rains.
Cyclone Tauktae weakened into a 'depression' and lay centred over south Rajasthan and adjoining Gujarat region on Wednesday morning, the India Meteorological Department said.
The deep depression in Bay of Bengal that crossed the coast close to Kakinada in East Godavari district on Tuesday morning left a trail of devastation as it brought with it a massive downpour in several districts of Andhra Pradesh.
At least five soldiers were trapped when a series of avalanches hit the Batalik sector in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir clamping down an army post on Thursday.
With the threat of disease outbreak lurking in flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir, efforts have been initiated on a war-footing to provide medical staff and medicines even as rescue operations were slightly hampered on Sunday due to return of rains in the Valley.
Massive dredging of the Jhelum, the main waterway crisscrossing the Kashmir Valley, is finally underway to prevent state capital Srinagar from the flooding it witnessed in September 2014.
The restoration work of the Kedarnath shrine, which was destroyed in last year's floods, will be done by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Flood waters receded further in Kashmir Valley on Thursday enabling rescue teams to evacuate another 2000 stranded people and provide crucial supplies for people desperately waiting for help in submerged areas.
Lifting of deposit withdrawal moratorium on March 18 could open flood gates and will require a calibrated approach along with active support and signaling from the RBI, government and investor banks.
The state government has declared a holiday on Wednesday and Thursday for all private institutions, offices, non-essential services within Outer Ring Road here in view of rains.
A relatively dry spell in Chennai and its neighbourhood brought relief to the flood affected residents and rescue agencies, as hopes of water receding fast went up.
As the rescue operations in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir are tapering off and the victims are being attended to in scores of relief camps, most of which have been set up by the locals, fear of an epidemic still looms in the affected areas.
The Jhelum continues to flow above the danger in south Kashmir as well as in summer capital Srinagar even though it has stopped raining.
The maximum death toll has been reported from Idukki district, where 43 people have lost their lives so far, as per official estimates. 28 deaths were reported in Malappuram and 27 in Thrissur.
