Cyclone Nisarga, the first such storm to threaten Mumbai in over a century, is heading to the Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts and is expected to make landfall at Alibaug, about 100 km from Mumbai, on Wednesday afternoon. Mumbai's civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has put out a list of dos and don'ts for citizens.
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.
The storm is likely to impact Mumbai, Thane and other coastal districts of Maharashtra like Raigad and Palghar along with Valsad, Navsari, Surat, Bhavnagar and Bharuch districts of Gujarat and Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Preparations for the impending cyclone were discussed at a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, a home ministry statement said.
The two western states, already battling a raging pandemic, which has put their health infrastructure under severe strain, opened new fronts to tackle the fallout of the storm which is expected to make a landfall close to Mumbai on Wednesday. They are likely to be impacted most by the cyclone.
After Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil said the government would examine Nitesh Rane's controversial statement about Gujaratis living in Mumbai and take action if he was found guilty, Nitesh's father, state Industry Minister Narayan Rane, on Monday rushed to his defence.
The IMD had said the Southwest Monsoon would hit parts of north India including Delhi on July 10, but it had not occurred till Sunday evening.
Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belt of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat on Sunday, leaving four people dead in Karnataka and two in Goa, damaging hundreds of houses, uprooting electricity poles and trees and forcing evacuation.
Sixteen deaths in rain and flood-related incidents have been reported from western Maharashtra in the last seven days, while the toll in Karnataka rose to five since Sunday.
As many as 51 more people have died due to swine flu in the country raising the toll to 926
Meanwhile, flight operations from the Kochi international airport will resume at 12 noon on Sunday, an airport official said.
The India Meteorological Department, which had issued a red colour-coded alert for north India for May 25-26 when the prevailing heatwave conditions are expected to peak, said dust and thunderstorms are likely to bring some relief on May 29-30.
Several parts of north and west India reeled under scorching heat wave with the temperature touching 50 degree Celsius in Rajasthan's Churu district on Tuesday, even as the meteorological department predicted very heavy rainfall in Assam and Meghalaya till May 28.
Before fleeing, the driver of the car scrapped the papers bearing the temporary registration number, both from the front and the rear end, in order to hide the identity of the vehicle owner, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.
Days after the Indian Coast Guard intercepted a 'terror boat' from Pakistan, there are still some doubts over the claims.
The National Innovation Foundation India (NIF), Ahmedabad shared the ideas that shined at the IGNITE 2015.
