The toll in Uttar Pradesh floods on Monday increased to 48, with reports of 20 more deaths in the state where several rivers were flowing above danger mark posing threat to more than 1,000 villages.
Home Secretary L C Goyal said 72 deaths were reported from the four states of Bihar -- 56, Uttar Pradesh -- 12, West Bengal -- 3 and Rajasthan --1.
Widening 'Operation Maitri', the Indian Army on Monday moved its rescue mission outside Nepal's capital into the epicentre of the devastating earthquake.
the India Meteorological Department has forecast intermittent rain with heavy to very heavy showers in the city and suburbs and extremely heavy rain at isolated places in next 24 hours.
The extremely severe cyclonic storm, which made landfall at Puri on Friday, unleashed copious rain and windstorm that gusted up to 200 kmph, blowing away thatched roofs of houses, swamped towns and villages, before weakening and entering West Bengal
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.
Water levels have started receding in Srinagar and telecommunication has been restored in parts of the city after it faced the worst floods in decades.
With the flood threat continuing to loom large over the valley, the Army has started the evacuation process in Srinagar as the city experienced fresh rainfall on Tuesday.
With the focus now shifting from disaster mitigation of cyclone to flood relief, the defence ministry on Monday said it has pressed four helicopters into service to evacuate the marooned local population as well as to drop relief materials to Phailin hit areas.
The South Central Railway as well as the East Coast Railway cancelled several trains while some were terminated midway, officials said, adding a few express trains were also diverted.
According to the SRC, the evacuation of eight lakh people is the largest-ever evacuation operation in the country.
Hundreds of people trapped in floods-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir with some left marooned on rooftops and others clinging to trees are in dire need of water and food.
The metrological department on Saturday said that Phailin is a very severe 'super cyclone' and its wind speed may go up to 200 and 240 km per hour by noon itself.
Five persons were killed and nearly 200 others fell ill after inhaling ammonia gas which leaked from a gas tanker after it accidentally brushed against a flyover near Ludhiana, triggering panic in the area.
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.
State government announced ex gratia for kin of those who lost lives.
Heavy rains lashing Mumbai since Sunday have thrown rail, air and road traffic out of gear, with several trains and flights being cancelled. With IMD forecast of heavy rains for Tuesday, the authorities declared a holiday in the city and adjoining regions, asking people to avoid stepping out of their houses.
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.
Cyclone Hudhud pounded the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha with heavy rain and winds of almost 200 kmph on Sunday killing four people and left a trail of destruction with Vishakapatnam where the very severe storm made landfall the worst hit.
More than 1,25,000 people have been rescued from the flood-ravaged parts of Jammu and Kashmir so far as the relief operations launched by the Armed forces entered the 11th day on Friday.
The tragedy took place amid rain in the city around 10.40 am when the FOB was heavily crowded, a police official said.
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.
Thousands of defence personnel are working overtime to rescue lakhs of people still stranded in the floods in Jammu and Kashmir.
The deep depression in North Andaman Sea and its neighbourhood intensified into a cyclonic storm on Wednesday and is likely to cross Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast on October 12.
At least 155 people have lost their lives and over 80 lakh people affected in fresh floods due to excessive rains in worst-affected Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Odisha.
Jammu and Kashmir government today declared a flood situation in Kashmir Valley as Jhelum river crossed the danger mark in Srinagar following incessant rains.
Jammu and Kashmir continues to remain on a flood alert as most of the rivers in the state are flowing above the danger mark.
.jpg)
We present Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's full speech as he addressed the country on the occasion of 66th Independence Day, from Red Fort, Delhi.
