Several states of the country are battling grim flood situations that have affected lakhs of people and have also resulted in loss of life and property.
The flood situation in Bihar is showing signs of improvement after the swollen rivers started receding on Friday. For nearly a week major rivers like Ganga had wreaked havoc in the state.
Around 1,500 villages across Uttar Pradesh are trying to struggle to stay afloat after flood fury hit them hard due to the release of overflowing water from dams in Nepal last Sunday.
The flood situation on Sunday worsened in Bihar where two more people lost their lives taking the death toll to 36, while flood waters entered fresh areas, pushing up the number of affected districts to 17.
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.
The floods have affected 31 lakh people across 13 districts and also widely damaged crops in different parts of the state.
In Assam, nearly 27.80 lakh people across 26 districts have been affected by the deluge. The deaths were reported from the Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Morigaon districts. The death toll due to floods and landslides this year has risen to 122.
In Uttar Pradesh, two persons were killed since Tuesday in the floods which have affected around 8.7 lakh people in 987 villages of 28 districts in the state.
UNICEF estimates that almost 16 million children and their families are in urgent need of life-saving support. Since mid-August, there have been at least 1,288 reported deaths.
The floods have also damaged crops in 2 lakh hectares of land.
Mumbai-based Doctors For You, a nation-wide humanitarian organisation which has provided services in several disasters in the last few years, started an OPD camp on September 30 just outside the Rajendra Nagar overbridge roundabout when practically the entire city was inundated.
Araria accounted for 20 flood deaths, followed by Sitamarhi (11), West Champaran (9), Kisanganj (8), Madhubani and Purnea (5 each), Madhepura and Darbhanga (4 each), East Champaran (3), Sheohar (2) and Supual (1), said Anirudh Kumar, special secretary in the state disaster management department.
Year after year, floods cause mayhem in Bihar but the government is not paying adequate attention to water management.
Anusha Subramanian talks to some of these volunteers, who are helping out in far-flung Nepal villages.
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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over phone and discussed about the prevailing condition on Monday.
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Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has presented a bleak picture of the country's dwindling economy, regretting that even friendly countries had started looking at Pakistan as one that was always begging for money.
Though hunger levels are not alarming in India, it still fares badly, lagging behind Nepal and Sri Lanka on the Global Hunger Index.
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Flash floods and landslips triggered by the monsoon fury left eight more persons dead, taking the number of people killed in calamity-hit Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to 138 even as 2700 pilgrims and locals were rescued from Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts.
Very heavy rains are expected over north Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Sikkim in the next 48 hours, with cyclonic storm Phailin now closer to the Chattisgarh-Odisha border, the National Disaster Management Authority has said.
The district administration has pressed men and machinery for relief and rescue operations, he said.
The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a warning about havoc rainfall or a cloud burst hitting Bihar's flood-affected districts in the next 24 to 48 hours, officials said on Sunday.
Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Thursday took over the baton of the chairman of the chiefs of staff committee from outgoing IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha even as the government plans to create a new post to focus exclusively on inter-services issues and acquisitions.
'Expect very heavy rainfall at some places in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar along with sub-Himalayan West Bengal comprising of Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, including Sikkim, parts of Arunachal Pradesh, and parts of lower Assam, Rangia downward like Barpeta, Goalpara, Dhubri along with parts of Meghalaya.'
Chief Ministers of both states announced Rs 4 lakh ex gratia to the next kin of the deceased.
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The national calamity response force, NDRF feels it is time that citizens are "trained" in combating both man-made and natural catastrophes.
'Coordination between our 50 teams, each with a strength of 45 men, played a key role in rescuing flood-affected people in Chennai. In all, we succeeded in rescuing over 20,000 people.'
It is urgent that we break the silence around the 'M' word, one ward and gram panchayat at a time, so that women and girls -- irrespective of their financial capacity -- can demand the information and materials they need, says Archana Patkar.
India's military prowess and multi-hued images of the country's rich cultural diversity and achievements in various fields were on display at the majestic Rajpath on Tuesday during 67th Republic Day parade which was graced by French President Francois Hollande as the chief guest.
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