The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts above-normal rainfall for India in September, following a monsoon season marked by heavy downpours and related disasters in various regions. The forecast indicates normal to above-normal rainfall for most areas, with some exceptions in the northeast, east, extreme south peninsular India, and parts of northwest India.
A devastating flashflood in the Kheer Ganga river on August 5 demolished nearly half of Dharali -- the key stopover en route to Gangotri with many hotels and homestays, and neighbouring Harsil, where an Army camp bore the brunt of the flood fury, barely giving time to the victims to run to safety.
'There is a clear relationship between the Char Dham road widening and these landslides.' 'The situation has further worsened with the massive influx of tourists whose number are running into several lakhs per month.' 'No parameters have been laid down to control tourist inflow and the result is that the Char Dham yatra has seen a sharp escalation in accidents and loss of lives.'
The death toll in the Uttarkashi bus accident rose to 26 with the recovery of one more body after which the search and rescue operation was concluded, officials said on Monday.
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The shocking scenes of physical and psychological trauma unfolded on a massive scale as search and rescue operations were underway, digging out mud-buried bodies and rescuing the injured trapped in slush and rocks after flash floods triggered by a cloudburst devastated Chositi village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Thursday.
The family members of 26 people from Madhya Pradesh, who were killed in the Uttarakhand accident, cannot believe that the pilgrimage met with a tragic end.
The helicopter crashed near Moldi while returning after distributing relief material among the affected people, said Uttarkashi Disaster Management officer Devendra Patwal.
A heavy-duty drilling machine flown in by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Delhi began boring through the rubble of a collapsed tunnel on the Char Dham route in Uttarakhand Thursday, in a fresh attempt to create an escape passage for 40 workers trapped inside for four days.
As night fell over Chositi village, rescuers worked frantically and pulled out 167 people from under mounds of rubble. Of these, 38 are in a serious condition, officials said. The death toll went up steadily as the day progressed and there were fears it could rise further.
Additionally, rates in the aviation sector are also expected to increase due to huge claim outgo in the Air India crash.
Since the onset of monsoon on June 20 to date, rain-related incidents have claimed 23 lives in the state, according to the state emergency operation centre.
Rescue work at the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand was virtually on hold Sunday as the agencies involved in the effort set themselves up for the next stage -- adopting multiple approaches to reach the 41 men trapped inside for a week.
Five pilgrims and a pilot onboard a helicopter had a narrow escape when the aircraft on its way to Kedarnath made an emergency landing on the highway in Rudraprayag district on Saturday after developing a technical snag during take-off, officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Mukhwa temple in Uttarakhand, the winter abode of Goddess Ganga, and offered prayers. The visit is expected to boost winter pilgrimage and tourism in the state. Modi also flagged off a trek and bike rally and addressed a public meeting in Harshil. This comes a day after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved two major ropeway projects to Kedarnath and Hemkund Sahib worth over Rs 6,000 crore.
Soon after the crash on Sunday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held an emergency meeting and asked senior officials to prepare a strict SOP (standard operating procedure) for heli services in the state, making a thorough check of the technical condition of the choppers mandatory.
Rudraprayag District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar told PTI that the accident took place above the forests of Gaurikund amid poor visibility due to bad weather.
Delhi region in northern India experiences frequent tremors due to both far-field and near-field earthquakes from the Himalayan and local sources, respectively.
The bus, going to Rishikesh from Gangotri shrine, was carrying nearly 45 passengers when the mishap occurred, Uttarkashi DSP Hukam Singh Khati said. The mishap apparently occurred when the front tyre of the bus burst following which the driver lost control and the vehicle fell into the river.
A Subedar Major, a jawan and a local porter were killed after being caught in the landslide when a five-member Army team was returning from routine patrolling of Kedar peak, Uttarkashi SP Rajiv Swarup said.
On Republic Day the President recognised the daring rescue of 41 workers trapped in a tunnel for 17 days in 2023 by humble rat-hole miners. The award hopefully will bring the forgotten superheroes back into the light.
Two foreign women mountaineers, who were stranded at a height of 6,015 metres on way to the Chaukhamba III peak in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, were rescued on Sunday morning, the District Disaster Management Centre in Gopeshwar said.
'An even bigger salute to all the rescue workers and all the agencies that worked tirelessly to rescue our 41 workers trapped in the Utarkashi Silkyara tunnel. Jai Hind!''
Forty-one Border Road Organisation labourers working to clear snow near the high altitude border village of Mana in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district were trapped under an avalanche on Friday.
Micro tunnelling expert Chris Cooper said on Monday that all the debris from the auger machine has been removed and manual drilling to reach the trapped labourers will start in a few hours.
Can the 41 workers trapped inside a tunnel after a portion of it collapsed two weeks ago on Sunday, November 12, 2023, be rescued in a few days or will it take till Christmas as one foreign expert reportedly warned.
The Uttarakhand high court on Monday sought replies from the state government and central agencies within 48 hours on the ongoing operation and measures taken to rescue 41 workers trapped inside a partially collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi for more than a week.
They said the incident occurred around 4 am when a 150-metre-long portion of the four-and-a-half-kilometer-long tunnel collapsed.
The CM will be accompanied by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari during his visit to the tunnel site on Sunday.
The statement by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) comes in the backdrop of collapse of under-construction Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarkashi on November 12.
'I feel numb with the trauma we have been going through ever since we first got the news. For close to two weeks, we have been hearing my child will be rescued today. That today never comes'
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday, November 29, 2023 celebrated the Igas Bagwal festival with the family members of the 41 rescued workers from the Uttarkashi tunnel at his residence in Dehradun.
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) said the demolition drive was carried out on land that was "part of planned development land". Police said several structures built illegally were demolished during the drive.
It isn't that a person occupying high office has no right to do what he/she likes. For sure, they do; after all, they are human. But there are also things like priority, timing and sense of larger country. Sadly, we live in a world awash in tunnel vision, asserts Shyam G Menon.
Larger diameter pipes have also been inserted up to a length of 42 metres through the debris on Sunday morning to provide enough food and other essentials to the trapped workers, a control room set up at the site said.
Earlier, on Monday, hot Khichdi was sent through this 6-inch pipeline to the stranded workers for the first time since they were trapped.
The new machine, that landed at the Chinyalisaur helipad, over 30 kilometres from the tunnel on the Chardham route, is being put into service, amid apprehension by workers at the site on the progress of the multi-agency rescue operations.
The moment four National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel arrived on the other side of the rubble at the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand to rescue 41 labourers trapped inside, their hopes of a safe evacuation were kindled, team commander Manmohan said.
Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Auli, Munsiyari received fresh snowfall on Monday, October 16, 2023.
For them it was a late Diwali, as the tunnel collapse happened on November 12, the day of the the festival.
