Gadgil and the report prepared by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) headed by him are back in news after over two dozen people lost their lives in landslides and flash floods in the past few days in the hilly regions of Western Ghats in central Kerala districts of Kottayam and Idukki.
The flood situation in Bihar remained grim on Monday with more than 10 lakh people affected and thousands forced to flee their homes and take shelter on highrise embankments, national highways, railway lines and in schools and other buildings
But the overall flood situation in the state improved with major rivers maintaining a receding trend.
In view of the flood situation in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the Railways on Saturday decided to cancel a few trains originating from Delhi and divert the Ernakulam-bound Mangala Express from its scheduled route.
Accusing the Uttar Pradesh government of not taking the flood situation seriously, Union Minister of State for Coal Sri Prakash Jaiswal on Tuesday said the state had not sent any report to the Centre regarding the calamity.
It is altogether a new experience for the IT professionals in the city taking tractor rides.
"We are apprehending a major flood in the Mahanadi system as a huge volume of water is heading downstream," Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy told reporters in Bhubhaneshwar.
On day three after a flash flood wreaked havoc in Sikkim's Teesta basin, the number of bodies recovered from the river and mud embankments downstream rose to 22, including seven army men.
The overall flood situation in Bihar remained grim on Monday with major rivers in spate. Around 1.5 million people have been affected by the deluge in 11 north Bihar districts, where floods have claimed 52 lives so far, official sources said.
Andhra Pradesh is facing the worst ever floods in its 60 years, as 60 per cent of Kurnool city was submerged on Friday leaving thousands homeless and stranded without food and water.
The flood situation on Thursday further worsened in West Midnapore district of West Bengal where about 16 lakh people were affected while 15 deaths have been reported in the past two days. District Magistrate N S Nigam said all 15 deaths were reported from Sabang, Pingla and Narayangarh. Of these, Narayangarh alone accounted for 11 deaths.
Faced with criticism that water released from its dams in an 'unprecedented' manner led to the flooding of West Bengal, the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) on Wednesday said that it discharges water after taking consent of the state government and blaming it for the deluge is not justified.
An ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh will be given per person to the next of kin of those killed in the floods.
The current wave of flood has claimed 12 lives and affected nearly 16 lakh people across Assam, the state assembly was informed on Wednesday.
As many as 2,187 villages in eastern Uttar Pradesh are affected by the flood waters of the Ghagra, Rapti, Saryu and Rohin rivers.
The situation in flood ravaged districts of Punjab and Haryana further worsened on Friday as fresh breaches in Hansi Butana canal in Kaithal and Ghaggar in Sangrur district left several villages marooned. A 15 feet breach occurred in Hansi Butana canal, some four km from Kaithal town in Haryana, inundating nearly 40 villages badly, officials said. Two breaches of approximately 50 to 60 feet have been created due to gushing waters in Ghaggar River at Rasoli and Naiwala village
At least seven persons killed in flood and landslides triggered by incessant rain in South West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya where about one lakh people from over 200 villages have been rendered homeless so far even as the authorities have been caught off guard in the face of disaster.
More than 200 villages have been inundated in Bareilly and Moradabad divisions due to floods even as seven trains have been cancelled in the region.
Some of the places where heavy waterlogging was reported included the Minto Bridge underpass, Feroz Shah Road, Patel Chowk Metro Station area and Maharaj Ranjeet Singh Marg.
Anupam Kher reacts to the floods situation in Kashmir.
Torrential rains in north Gujarat have caused flood in Banaskantha and Patan districts.
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.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to expedite the visit of a central team to flood-affected areas to assess the damage. Hooda appraised Dr Singh about the flood situation in the state over the phone. The Haryana government has estimated the loss due to the floods at over Rs 1,000 crore, officials said. The prime minister assured Hooda of all possible help to deal with the calamity.
The flood situation in Midnapore district in West Bengal turned worse on Thursday with fresh areas inundated by the Subarnarekha River, leaving nearly three lakh people marooned.The army, pressed into rescue and relief operations in the district and in neighbouring East Midnapore since Wednesday, have begun work at Dantan since morning. Four persons have died and over 12 were missing in the floods, while over 10,000 people were rescued.
China also said it will continue to share the flood data with India.
Skoda Auto India, the Czech carmaker that has recently found success with its compact SUV Kylaq, says it remains committed to developing a fully localised electric vehicle (EV). The EV will be manufactured at its Chakan facility for both Indian market and exports.
The situation in Karimganj, Cachar, Morigaon, Nagaon and Dhubri remains grim with the rivers still flowing above the danger level, sources said in Guwahati.
With the unanticipated floods across Tamil Nadu catching the unprepared administration unawares, Stalin finds that some of the early positives that had rubbed on his initiatives have been lost, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Social media has been buzzing with memes mocking Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal's 2023 prediction that BJP will need another birth to win the Delhi elections. The BJP's victory in the recent elections has turned Kejriwal's bold claim into the punchline of the season. Memes and videos are circulating, referencing the AAP's defeat, highlighting the 'drama' between Kejriwal and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, and even drawing parallels to the BJP's win with the 'Mentos Zindagii' ad campaign.
As floods hit the low-lying areas in the national capital, slum dwellers whose houses got submerged claimed that they were not alerted beforehand and many others alleged that help was not forthcoming from the administration.
The National Park is facing the worst floods in the past 10 years.
The flood situation in Bihar continues grim with people climbing on rooftops of educational institutions for safety, even as such buildings are showing signs of collapse.
Jammu and Kashmir was bracing for a fresh spell of rains as predicted by Met department, leading to nervousness among the people who were heaving a sigh of relief as flood situation was showing improvement on Tuesday after causing the death of 17 people.
Seven persons died in various rain-related incidents during the past 36 hours as heavy showers coupled with discharge of water from dams worsened the overall flood situation in Bihar.
The flood situation in West Bengal continued to be grim with most of the major rivers in spate following increased discharge from DVC dams and barrages as the death toll shot to 47 on Saturday.
