Page 400 - Disaster Accident
Western Railway to rebuild Malad skywalk after Diwali
The Western Railway has decided to rebuild a 40-year-old skywalk in suburban Malad after its efforts to seek funds from the Mumbai civic body for the project failed to elicit a positive response. A senior WR official said this cantilever type of skywalk at Malad - located between Ranisati MCGM South Foot Over Bridge and Elevated Booking Office and connected with Western Railways (South) remains repairable. "Despite a few rounds of repairs in the past, the condition of the skywalk remained the same. "Therefore, we decided to rebuild the skywalk back in 2016 itself and approached the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) in August 2016 to provide funds of Rs 5.45 crore for the execution of this work," Western Railway chief PRO Ravinder Bhakar said in a statement. "But the required funds are still awaited. However, the Western Railway is determined to execute this urgent nature work to ensure safety of passengers. "To ensure the safety of passengers, the skywalk was ...
After Indonesian plane crash, DGCA asked to look at aircraft engines, other issues: Prabhu
Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu Tuesday said regulator DGCA has been asked to look at engines and other issues related to airlines following the plane crash in Indonesia. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) reviewed the performance of Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes operated by Jet Airways and SpiceJet, a senior official said Tuesday. The development comes a day after a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft operated by Indonesia's Lion Air crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Jakarta. There were more than 180 people on board. "Now because of yesterday's incident, we have also asked (DGCA) to look at engines etc... DGCA has been asked to do it," Prabhu told PTI. Specific details could not be immediately ascertained. The minister also said that the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been told about having daily safety reports from all airlines and various installations, including airports, to be submitted to safety audit. Currently, Jet Airways and SpiceJet are ..
Malviya Nagar fire: HC asks godown owner why cost of fire-fighting should not be recovered from him
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the owner of a rubber godown in Malviya Nagar why he should not be made to pay the cost of extinguishing a major fire that broke out there in May this year. The court observed that various authorities, including the Indian Air Force (IAF), have claimed varying amounts for dousing the fire and "the question arises who will reimburse the expenditure incurred by them." "Why should the cost of extinguishing the fire be not recovered from you?" a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambhani asked the godown owner and issued a show cause notice to him. The IAF has claimed over Rs 24 lakh for using one of its helicopters in the fire-fighting operations. The court had earlier taken cognisance, on its own, of news reports of the fire in the rubber godown in South Delhi's Malviya Nagar on May 29. The fire started in a truck loaded with inflammable rubber sheets and spread to the godown in the congested locality. The massive fire was ...
Russia's aircraft carrier is damaged in upgrade accident
An accident in the docks in Russia's north on Tuesday damaged the country's only aircraft carrier and left one person missing and four injured, officials said. A floating dock sank early morning in Murmansk, dropping a crane on the deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov carrier, the United Shipbuilding Corporation said. The corporation's chief, Alexei Rakhmanov, insisted, however, that this did not cause serious damage. "Obviously when a 70-ton crane crashes on the deck there could be damage," Rakhmanov said in comments carried by the Interfax news agency, but "preliminary reports show that the damage that the ship has suffered is not significant." The cause of the accident was not immediately clear but Rakhmanov said it may have happened because of an unexpected power surge and a failure of backup generators. The Admiral Kuznetsov carrier was launched in 1985 and has recently been dogged with technical problems. Two years ago, it was spotted belching black smoke as it was passing through the .
Saudi-led coalition sends thousands of troops towards Yemen port
The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen has sent more than 10,000 new troops towards a vital rebel-held port city ahead of a new assault, Yemeni government officials said Tuesday. The pro-government coalition deployed the reinforcements to the Red Sea coast ahead of a new offensive on Hodeida "within days", a military official told AFP. He said they would also "secure areas liberated" from the Iran-linked Huthi rebels, and that forces from Sudan, part of the coalition, had moved in to "secure" areas around the city. Huthi rebels have for the past 10 days been stationing fighters on rooftops of buildings in Hodeida city, government military officials told AFP. The adjacent port is the entry point for more than 70 per cent of imports to the impoverished country, which is teetering on the edge of famine. More than 22 million Yemenis - three quarters of the population - are in need of humanitarian assistance. People struggling to survive are also confronted with a collapsed economy, ...
Spanish Mayor chains himself to bridge for flood aid
The Mayor of a town in the Spanish region of Andalusia on Tuesday chained himself to a bridge as part of a protest to demand financial aid to help repair extensive damage left in the wake of flash floods.
Sidhu distributes cheques to families of injured in train tragedy
Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu Tuesday distributed cheques of Rs 50,000 each to 10 families of injured in the Amritsar train accident. Sidhu said about 100 cheques have been distributed till date to those injured in the train tragedy and the rest would be given in the coming few days. Fifty-nine people were killed and 57 injured after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train here. Sidhu said the family members of those killed in the tragedy would be given government jobs as per their qualification. The minister further said all the medical expenses of the injured admitted in the government or private hospitals would be borne by the state government. He said, "It is our responsibility to share the grief of those affected".
Huge fire at Mumbai slum; MLA suspects cylinder blast as cause
A massive fire broke out in a slum pocket in suburban Bandra Tuesday but a major tragedy was averted as the hutment-dwellers escaped just in time, a fire brigade official said. No loss of life was reported in the incident except two women fainting due to shock, the official said. The exact cause of fire is under investigation, the official said even as the local MLA of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) blamed a cylinder blast for the incident. The disaster management cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the incident was reported at 11:50 am in Nargis Dutt Nagar slum, located opposite Bandra fire station in Bandra (West). "The flames were put out by 3:45 PM. No loss of life was reported in the incident while two women fainted due to mental shock," the official said, adding that residents of the slum pocket escaped just in time which averted a major tragedy. A total of 10 water tankers and 12 fire engines were pressed into service to douse the fire, he said, adding that ..
DGCA reviews performance of Boeing 737 MAX planes operated by Jet Airways, SpiceJet
Aviation watchdog DGCA on Tuesday reviewed the performance of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft operated by Jet Airways and SpiceJet, a senior official said, a day after the plane crash in Indonesia. On Monday, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft operated by Indonesia's Lion Air crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Jakarta. Currently, Jet Airways and SpiceJet are the only domestic carriers flying Boeing 737 MAX planes. Together, they have six such aircraft. "As on date, six B737Max 8 aircraft in India have accumulated about 4,000 hours since their induction effective June 2018 onwards. There are no significant technical issues encountered on these aircraft," the official said. However, the official did not elaborate. More than 200 737 MAX planes have been delivered across the world by Boeing. Following the crash, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had also sought details about it from Boeing and US regulator Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). According to the official, as ..
Lion air crash: Wish somebody could bring happy news, says Delhi pilot's family
The death of Bhavye Suneja, the pilot of the Indonesian Lion Air Boeing plane that crashed on Monday killing 189 passengers on board, is hard to sink in for his family living in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar.
Indonesia sifts through plane debris, orders jet inspection
Indonesia ordered the inspection of all Boeing 737-MAX airliners on Tuesday as rescue teams recovered more human remains from a brand new Lion Air jet that plunged into the sea with 189 people on board. On a Jakarta dockside, officials took up the grim task of separating human remains from plane debris and recovered personal effects, sending the body parts -- including from an infant - to hospital for DNA testing. Stretched out along the dock was a growing collection of items plucked from the sea - single shoes, torn pieces of clothing, wallets and bags scattered among aircraft seats stripped of their blue covers by the sheer impact of the crash. The Boeing-737 MAX, which went into service just a few months ago, crashed into the Java Sea off Indonesia's northern coast moments after it had asked to return to Jakarta on Monday. Flight JT610 sped up as it suddenly lost altitude and then vanished from radar 12 minutes after take-off, with witnesses saying the single-aisle jet plunged into
Ktaka seeks Rs 2,434 cr drought relief package from Centre
The Karnataka government today submitted a proposal to the Centre seeking a relief package of Rs 2,434 crore against the kharif crop damage in drought-hit 24 districts in the state. In a meeting with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh here, both revenue minister R V Deshpande and N H Shivashankar Reddy also urged the Centre for early release of Rs 722 crore for flood-hit areas of the state. They also tried to impressed upon the Centre for approving an ordinance to implement a debt relief bill passed by the state cabinet for protecting farmers from private lenders. "We have declared 100 taluks in 24 districts as drought affected. About 47 per cent of the kharif sown area of 74.6 lakh hectares has been affected due to drought," Deshpande told reporters after the meeting. The state has estimated Rs 16,662 crore as damage to the kharif agriculture and horticultural crops this year and has sought a relief of Rs 2,434 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), he said. Northern .
Previous flight of crashed Lion Air jet terrified passengers
Relatives numbed by grief provided samples for DNA tests to help identify victims of the Lion Air plane crash that killed 189 people in Indonesia, as accounts emerged Tuesday of problems on the jet's previous flight including rapid descents that terrified passengers. Hundreds of rescue personnel searched seas where the plane crashed, sending more than three dozen body bags to identification experts, while the airline flew dozens of grieving relatives to the country's capital, Jakarta. The 2-month-old Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet plunged into the Java Sea early Monday, just 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta for an island off Sumatra. Its pilot requested clearance to return to the airport 2-3 minutes after takeoff, indicating a problem, though the cause is still uncertain. Aircraft debris and personal belongings including ID cards, clothing and bags found scattered in the sea were spread out on tarps at a port in north Jakarta and sorted into evidence bags. The chief of the police's ...
Indonesia warns over 'fake news' after deadly jet crash
Indonesia warned social media users on Tuesday against spreading hoaxes, as rescue teams searched for human remains from a horrifying jet crash. A string of false stories have been circulating online since the Lion Air plane plunged into the sea off Jakarta on Monday with 189 people on board. "For all of us, please don't spread photos of victims and hoaxes. Please be wise," Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency spokesman, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, tweeted. Sutopo, who has made a name for himself as a straight-talker, highlighted a number of pictures and videos that are making the rounds. They included Facebook postings showing a photograph of a baby in a life jacket purportedly rescued from the plane's wreckage. One of the posts - which was shared nearly 5,000 times in the first 24 hours - gave fictional details about the apparent rescue. "There are many social media posts that claim to show an image of a baby who survived the flight JT610 plane crash," he said. "This photo in fact shows
This Diwali visit water-starved Marathwada: Congress tells PM
The Congress in Maharashtra Tuesday "requested" Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the water-starved Marathwada region during this year's Diwali and demanded the Centre announce a relief package for the state. The region in Central Maharashtra in reeling under drought-like conditions due to deficient monsoon rains this year. Last week, the state government said around 180 talukas in Maharashtra are facing a drought-like situation. The state has more than 350 talukas spread across 36 districts. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Ashok Chavan said the region, which consists of eight districts, needs urgent national attention. "I request Prime Minister Modi to spend Diwali in Marathwada this year. Diwali gift for Marathwada should be a drought relief package, clean drinking water and uninterrupted power supply," Chavan said. The former chief minister's comments came in the backdrop of Modi's Diwali greetings to the nation during his monthly 'Mann ki .
Karnataka's flood-hit coffee planters suffer Rs 3,000 cr loss
Karnataka's coffee planters are staring at losses totalling Rs 3,000 crore as a result of recent heavy rains and floods that hit the coffee-growing regions, a top official from the Karnataka Planters Association (KPA) said on Tuesday.
Spend Diwali in water-starved Marathwada: Congress tells PM
The Congress in Maharashtra Tuesday "requested" Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spend this year's Diwali in the water-starved Marathwada region and demanded a relief package for the state. The region in Central Maharashtra in reeling under drought-like conditions due to deficient monsoon rains this year. Last week, the state government said around 180 talukas in Maharashtra are facing a drought-like situation. The state has more than 350 talukas spread across 36 districts. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Ashok Chavan said the region needs urgent national attention. "I request Prime Minister Modi to spend Diwali in Marathwada this year. Diwali gift for Marathwada should be a drought relief package, clean drinking water and uninterrupted power supply," Chavan said. The former chief minister's comments came in the backdrop of Modi's Diwali greetings to the nation during his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio address Sunday. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi ...
Flash flood warning in Arunachal Pradesh
The Disaster Management Department of Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday issued a flash flood warning in the state following information of a landslide taking place along the Yarlung Zangbo river in China that flows into India.
Indonesia widens search area for crashed plane wreckage, victims
Indonesian search and rescue teams on Tuesday widened the search area as they looked for the fuselage, black boxes and victims of the Lion Air plane that crashed in the Java Sea a day earlier with 189 people on board.
Authorities ask people not to venture into Siang river after landslide in Tibet
Authorities here asked people not to venture into the Siang river flowing through Upper Siang district following a landslide in Tibet which could trigger possible floods in the state. The possibility of floods in the Siang river looms large if the artificial dam, formed by the landslide in the Yarlung Tsangpo river at 10 am Monday breached, according to officials here. The Yarlung Tsangpo river is known as Siang in Arunachal Pradesh and Brahmaputra in Assam. Upper Siang DC Duly Kamduk said in a circular Tuesday that the Department of Disaster Management had informed the Upper Siang district administration about the landslide at the Milin section of the Yarlung Tsangpo river and the possibility of floods in the Siang. The circular also stated that there has been an unprecedented decrease in the volume of water in the Siang river at Tuting since Monday night. Advising people to take precautionary measures, the DC asked them not to panic or create panic. Central Water Commission ...