'We have only ourselves to blame.' 'For selfish reasons and greed, we have obstructed many outlets, preventing the water from flowing out, be it rivers, tributaries or small drainage systems.'
In what appears to be the last phase of the massive rescue operation, National Disaster Response Force jawans have recovered 21 more bodies from under the debris of landslide in Malin village in Pune district, which takes the death toll in the July 30 disaster to 151.
At least 200 Indian students stranded at the University of Houston were being evacuated to safer places.
'A lot of unauthorised encroachments have taken place in our forest area.' 'The landslides are partly because of such encroachments.' 'The other factor is deforestation.' 'Protection of forest resources is not on the agenda of any government.' 'The damage caused by the rain in Kerala is a man-made factor.'
A large number of people, including senior citizens, women and children were airlifted from isolated buildings
Here's a recap of the events from the past 48 hours.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday visited Mumbai's Municipal Corporation to monitor the situation in the city, which has been badly hit by heavy rains since Thursday night.
Nearly half a million people in Pakistan have been hit by the deadliest flood in the country's history that has claimed over 230 lives, as authorities braced to save major towns along the swollen Chenab river, which has left a trail of devastation.
Thousands of emergency rescue teams officials remained on their toes, helping people affected by the deluge. Weather official said parts of state are expected to receive rainfall again.
Experts say poor city planning and inefficient administration turned an unusually high rainfall into a disaster.
At least 10 villages of Odisha's Kalahandi district were marooned in flood waters due to heavy rains at the catchment areas of river Indravati leading to disruption of road communications in different western Odisha district and halt of power generation from the Upper Indravati Hydel project.
'Because of the melting of ice as well as irresponsible human behaviour such as throwing soil and plastic into the sea, there has been a rise in temperature.' 'I fear there will be direct and dangerous consequences for us.'
After being pounded for an entire day by Cyclone Hudhud, the storm is weakened on Monday leaving behind a trail of destruction in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
'If the government does not take any action soon, 21 cities of India will become like Cape Town, with no water.' 'Four cities -- Delhi, Gurgaon, Meerut and Faridabad -- will suffer the worst.'
Torrential rains in north Gujarat have caused flood in Banaskantha and Patan districts.
More than 3,000 squads under health and local self-government departments have started the process of cleaning houses and public places, official sources said.
Today, half the lakes in Bengaluru are encroached upon.
Scientists at the India Meteorological Department warn that not only has India turned hotter in the last two decades, but that heat waves are projected to become more intense, have longer durations and greater frequency, thereby resulting in more deaths.
At least 15 people have died in heavy floods and landslides triggered by continuous rain for the last three days in Assam, where airforce helicopters, army, National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force have been pressed into service for rescue work, officials said.
Currently, the Brahmaputra at Guwahati, Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns, while the Barak at AP Ghat in Cachar and Badarpurghat in Karimganj are flowing above the danger mark.
The water level of major rivers, including the Ganga and the Yamuna, in Uttar Pradesh has crossed the danger mark at several places.
The flood situation eased in Assam and northern districts of West Bengal with water receding and no fresh deaths being reported in both the states.
'Nitish Kumar's government has proved during these floods that it is a helpless government.'
The staff and security personnel are performing their duties using mechanised and country boats to deal with any kind of eventualities, they said.
Life in Mumbai was on Wednesday slowly coming back on tracks as rains subsided and hundreds of stranded commuters headed home with the partial resumption of suburban train services.
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.
Around six lakh people have been housed in over 2000 relief camps in the two states.
Flash floods triggered by incessant rains have claimed 26 lives in Gujarat in the past 48 hours while four lives have been lost in Rajasthan, authorities said on Wednesday.
The weatherman said when 'Amphan' makes the landfall between West Bengal's Digha, some 180 km from Kolkata, and Hatiya island in Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon or evening, it will pack sustained wind speed of 155 to 165 kmph, gusting at 185 kmph. The gale-force wind, blowing at a speed of 240 to 250 kmph and gusting to 275 kmph at one point, had lost intensity and was moving at a speed of 200 to 210 kmph, gusting to 230 kmph on Tuesday evening.
Around 13 million people continue to battle "catastrophic" flooding and torrential rains in storm-ravaged Texas where Hurricane Harvey has wreaked havoc.
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.
'It affects our economy, it is very important in many ways.' 'So we have to be the foremost experts in the world on the monsoon.' 'But the best minds in India have not devoted their time to the study of monsoon and they have followed the fashions of the West.'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com meets the families of the victims of the stampede at Mumbai's Elphinstone railway station.
106 people died on a single day on Thursday.
The flood situation remained critical in Assam, affecting 7.35 lakh people in 18 districts where one lakh hectares of cropland have been inundated by the surging waters of the swollen Bahmaputra and its tributaries.
PSLV C-29 blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, about 110 km from Chennai, at 6 pm and released the six satellites one by one into a 550 km circular orbit.
'For lakhs of people in the flood-afflicted state, battling against the elements is taking a huge toll. This is the time of the year that apples ripen, rice starts being harvested and preparations start in full swing to put aside some of the food stocks for the long winter months ahead. At this moment, though, people there believe if they can succeed in coming out of this calamity in one piece they will have won the war,' says Rashme Sehgal.
The situation in the state was 'extremely grave', said Vijayan, who spoke to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Home minister, Rajnath Singh, this morning seeking more central assistance for relief operations.
Modi assured to extend all required assistance to the state to face the situation, the Chief Minister's office said.
The decision to suspend the operations was taken after shutters of the Idamalayar and Cheruthoni dams, part of Idukki reservoir, were opened on Tuesday evening to release excess water.
