Page 435 - Disaster Accident

All Indian States must include animals in disaster plans to save communities

Today, to mark International Day for Disaster Reduction, World Animal Protection is urging the central government and all the state governments to ensure that efforts to reduce disaster risk include animal protection are in place.India has been leading the way by integrating animals in the national disaster management policy, plans and as well as in the search and rescue operations. Today we urge the Government of India to set up a Veterinary Emergency Fund for effective implementation of these initiatives.World Animal Protection also urges all the States and Union Territories in India to develop their dedicated State Animal Disaster Management Plans with all the required financial and technical resources in place so that we can ensure that animals and the livelihood of the people are protected from any future disasters.Animal health, welfare and protection has massive implications for community nutrition, food security and agricultural output. 2.5 billion people around the world are .

14 people injured as bus falls in ditch in UP

At least 14 persons were injured when a private bus overturned and fell into a wayside ditch at Bazardeeh here on Gorakhpur-Sonauli road, police said Saturday. According to Additional Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Shukla, the accident took place Friday night, in which three passengers sustained critical injuries. They were referred to BRD Medical College Gorakhpur. The bus was on way to Gorakhpur from Sonauli when the accident took place, police said.

Avalanche hits Nepal peak; 5 South Koreans among 9 killed

At least nine climbers including five South Korean nationals have been killed in an avalanche which devastated their camp on Nepal's Mount Gurja, the expedition organiser said Saturday. The violent snowstorm buried the climbers at the base camp at an altitude of 3,500 metres near the south face of Mount Dhaulagiri in western Nepal on Friday evening, said Wangchu Sherpa, the Managing Director at Trekking Camp Nepal. Five South Korean climbers including team leader Kim Chang-ho along with their Nepali support staff were killed in the incident, Sherpa said. They had gone to scale the mountain from Gurja Village on October 7. A heavy snowstorm followed by a landslide buried the base camp at an altitude of 3,500 metres when the climbers were awaiting for a fair weather to move towards higher camps, he said. Team leader Kim was the first South Korean national to summit 14 peaks above 8,000 metres without using supplemental oxygen. However, the identities of others killed in the incident ...

Hurricane Michael death toll hits 16

The death toll from Hurricane Michael rose to at least 16 on Friday amid fears it would continue to climb as search-and-rescue teams scour the debris of the Florida town that bore the brunt of the monster storm. "Mexico Beach is devastated," Florida Governor Rick Scott said of the town where Michael made landfall as a Category 4 storm on Wednesday. "It's like a bomb went off," Scott said as he toured the town of 1,000 people on the Gulf of Mexico. "It's like a war zone." Rescue teams were using sniffer dogs in Mexico Beach on Friday in a search for victims who may be buried under the rubble in the debris-strewn community. Brock Long, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), warned that he expected the number of deaths to rise. "I hope we don't see it climb dramatically but I have reasons to believe we still haven't got into some of the hardest hit areas," he said. "What's happening is search and rescue is trying to get into the rubble to make sure that there's nobody ...

Cyclone Titli: Railways to run Bhubaneswar-Bangalore special train

To facilitate the stranded passengers going southwards following cancellation and diversion of trains due to Cyclone Titli, a Super Fast Tatkal Special Train will run from Bhubaneswar, Odisha to Bangalore Cantonment, Karnataka.The East Coast Railways informed that the train would leave from Bhubaneswar on October 15 at 7: 50 am.The train will have stoppages at Khurda Road, Balugaon, Brahmapur, Palasa, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Perambur, Arakkonam, Katpadi, Jolarpettai, Bangarapet, Krishnarajpuram and Bangalore East between Bhubaneswar and Bangalore Cantonment.Apart from this, at least 14 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 26 teams of Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) have been deployed across 16 districts of the state to provide relief and rescue operation to those affected by the cyclone.On Friday, a villager died in West Bengal's Kharagpur after a roadside wall collapsed on him during Cyclone Titli. Several houses in

At least 41 dead in Uganda landslide

At least 41 people were killed after a river in eastern Uganda burst its banks, sending a torrent of mud and rocks barrelling into homes, disaster officials and survivors have said. Rescue teams continued picking through the rubble late Friday, searching for survivors and victims of the disaster which took place the previous day in the eastern Bududa district. An unknown number of people remained missing. "41 lives have been lost but they're still going ahead digging, trying to look for whether there are other bodies in the riverbed somewhere," said Hilary Onek, Uganda's minister for relief, disaster preparedness and refugees. "There are casualties up in the hills," he added, referring to higher ground where the river burst its banks before washing away homes lower down. Onek said 38 bodies had so far been found, as well as dismembered limbs believed to belong to three more individuals. Survivors spoke of panic and horror as water cascaded down the hillside. At the hillside Nanyinza ..

Hurricane Michael death toll hits 13

The death toll from Hurricane Michael has risen to at least 13 amid fears it will continue to climb as search-and-rescue teams scour the debris of the Florida town that bore the brunt of the monster storm. "Mexico Beach is devastated," Florida Governor Rick Scott said of the town where Michael made landfall as a Category 4 storm on Wednesday. "It's like a bomb went off," Scott said as he toured the town of 1,000 people on the Gulf of Mexico. "It's like a war zone." Rescue teams were using sniffer dogs in Mexico Beach on Friday in a grim search for victims who may be buried under the rubble in the debris-strewn community. Brock Long, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), warned that he expected the number of deaths to rise. "I hope we don't see it climb dramatically but I have reasons to believe we still haven't got into some of the hardest hit areas," he said. "What's happening is search and rescue is trying to get into the rubble to make sure that there's nobody ...

At least 34 killed in Uganda landslides

At least 34 people lost their lives after landslides and floods, triggered by torrential rains, washed away houses in eastern Uganda, the country's Red Cross Society said.Dozens are feared missing in mudslides that engulfed homes in six villages in Bududa district, that borders Kenya. According to local media reports, 40 people have died in the disaster, CNN reported.The landslides occurred after a river burst its banks in Bukalasi town in Bududa district, triggering flash flooding, sweeping away houses and marooning hundreds of people, Uganda Red Cross' (URC) head of communications and public relations, Irene Nakasiita said.Rescue operations are underway to retrieve the people affected in the crisis.The URC took to social media, warning people to take alternative routes. The aid agency added that it has provided blankets and other relief materials to the families in the affected areas."The effect is very devastating and has majorly affected lives of people, livestock, plantations and

Pipeline explosion kills 19 in Nigeria

A pipeline explosion in early hours of Friday had killed at least 19 people in two villages of Osisioma local government area of Abia state in southern Nigeria, a para military body said.

India tests cryogenic engine for launching second moon mission

India successfully tested the cryogenic engine for the heavy rocket that would launch the country's second moon mission on January 3, 2019, the space agency said on Friday.

Cyclone Titli: Odisha govt cancels leaves, govt holidays for officials

The Odisha government has cancelled all leaves and government holiday of all the officers in the Secretariat and Heads of Departments in view of the relief efforts that are to be provided in the wake of the cyclone and flooding in the state.Principal Secretary Ashok Kumar Meena, in his letter to all secretaries and head of departments informed about the decision."All Secretaries and Heads of Department shall ensure proper roster arrangement to be made so that the offices are open during the Puja Vacation," Meena said in his letter."This instruction is issued in Suppression of all the orders issued in connection with leaves of officers, sanctioned earlier for the Puja Vacation," he added.Today, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also constituted a three-member Ministerial Committee, including Revenue and Disaster Management Minister, Water Resources Minister and Energy Minister to monitor relief, rescue and restoration work in cyclone-affected districts.Ganjam, Gajapati, and Rayagadh

Grim search underway for victims of Hurricane

Rescue teams using sniffer dogs carried out a grim search for victims of Hurricane Michael on Friday amid fears that the death toll from the monster storm -- which currently stands at 11 -- could rise. "When you have that type of damage it takes some time to get in and actually go through and do the search and rescue," said Brock Long, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). "We hope to have 100 percent of the initial search and rescue done in Florida today," Long told reporters. The Florida Panhandle town of Mexico Beach was pulverized by the Category 4 storm which crashed ashore on Wednesday, razing many homes to their foundations with 155 miles per hour winds and several feet of storm surge. A mandatory evacuation was issued for the town of 1,000 on the Gulf of Mexico coast, but how many residents actually heeded the warning is unknown. "You hope that somehow at the last minute a bunch of people got up and left or went somewhere else," Florida Senator Marco Rubio ...

Cyclone Titli: Odisha expedites rescue, relief operations

The Odisha government on Friday stepped up rescue and relief operation in areas affected by deluge areas caused due to heavy rainfall under the influence of Cyclone Titli, officials said. As many as 1,27,262 people were sheltered in 963 relief centres on Friday, while the NDRF and Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) have been deployed to speed up rescue and relief operations, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi said. Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Puri, Kandhamal and Kendrapara districts have been affected by floods, he said, adding Ganjam has been categorised as the "worst-affected". The calamities have, till now, claimed three lives - all in Ganjam district. "Two helicopters requisitioned from the Indian Navy have already reached Gopalpur. Air dropping operation in Ganjam district will start from Saturday morning," the SRC said. To pace up rescue and relief operations, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik formed a three-member ministerial team to visit the flood-affected ...

Humanitarians see surge in climate-related disasters

The number of climate-related disasters around the world is growing rapidly, humanitarians warned Friday, urging more efforts to prepare and build resilience to looming changes on a warming planet. Climate shocks are already driving displacement, causing many to go hungry and are sparking or exacerbating conflicts around the globe, humanitarian workers said, cautioning that the situation is quickly deteriorating. "With climate change, the shocks and hazards are multiplying," Elhadj As Sy, Secretary-General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told AFP in an interview. Speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Geneva on the impact of climate change on humanitarian situations around the globe, he cautioned that such "shocks" were "getting more frequent and more severe." Friday's conference was aimed at unpacking the humanitarian implications of the findings in a landmark UN climate report this week, which warned drastic action was needed to .

One killed, three injured in separate accidents in Amethi

A person was killed and three others, including a minor, were injured in separate road accidents here on Friday, police said. Noor Mohammad (29) of Bazar Shukul was killed on the spot when his motorcycle was hit by a tractor near Nihalpur morh on Raebareli-Faizabad National Highway. The driver of the tractor fled from the spot, leaving behind his vehicle which was impounded by the police. In another accident, three persons, including a minor, sustained serious injuries when their motorcycle was hit by a speeding truck near Pure Ben Morh on Gauriganj-Musafirkhana road, the police said. The truck driver fled from the spot, leaving his vehicle behind, they said. The injured were rushed to the community health centre in Musafirkhana and were later referred to Trauma Centre in Lucknow by the doctors, they added. Cases have been filed against unknown persons, the police said.

Cyclone Titli enters Bengal; four dead in Odisha, WB

Cyclone Titli weakened into a deep depression and entered West Bengal Friday, triggering incessant rainfall even as it claimed four lives - three in Odisha and one in Bengal. The cyclone and the accompanying heavy rain have wrought damage in Bengal's Jhargram and Paschim Medinipur districts adjoining Odisha. It left one person dead in Paschim Medinipur district and uprooted trees along state highway number 5, holding up traffic, authorities in the two districts said. Paschim Medinipur and Jhargram are witnessing incessant rain since Thursday night. The MeT department warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Gangetic West Bengal till Saturday, ahead of Durga Puja festivities. It said the cyclone has weakened into a deep depression and is moving northeast. Paschim Medinipur district Magistrate P Mohan Gandhi said a 35-year-old security guard was killed when a 12-foot factory wall collapsed on him at Kharagpur following heavy rains on Friday. Ten others were injured in various ...

Arun Kumar Rath replaces M Ravi, takes charge as Bhilai Steel Plant CEO

M Ravi was removed following an accident at SAIL's Bhilai plant in Durg district on Tuesday

12 farmers fined for burning crop residue in Haryana's Hisar

Twelve farmers have been fined for burning crop residue in Haryana's Hisar district, an official statement said Friday. The Haryana State Pollution Control Board has got a case registered against one farmer and recovered Rs 45,000 as fine from 12 farmers for burning crop residue in Hisar, it said. Burning of crop residue is not allowed in Haryana as it leads to environmental pollution. Last year, 122 cases were registered against those found burning crop residue during the paddy season, the statement said. The Haryana Space Applications Centre in Haryana's Agricultural University campus in Hisar has been monitoring the entire state through satellite imagery, it said. If any incident of crop residue burning takes places in any area, it would come to the notice and a team of the Pollution Control Board would get a case registered against the guilty after carrying out physical verification of the area, the statement added. Haryana's Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Department has been ...

Hurricane Michael in US kills 11

The death toll from hurricane Michael, one of the most powerful storms to make landfall in the US mainland, rose to 11 on Friday, with authorities warning that the number of dead could rise as emergency workers ventured more deeply into the areas devastated by the storm.

Parijat offers farmers alternate to hazardous crop burning

The rampant practice of stubble burning has emerged as a major problem in Punjab and Haryana, leading to an increase in the environmental pollution as well as posing a major health hazard to the residents. In line with its commitment to foster best agricultural practices and to provide training to farmers against agricultural residue burning, Parijat industries have been conducting training of farmers in different parts of northern India.It recently conducted a session for farmers in collaboration with students and professors of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University at Hisar. The session witnessed attendance of more than 1500 progressive farmers.The special focus of the campaign was to create awareness among farmers about proper management of crops residue and the ill effects of stubble burning after harvesting. In its two day session, the farmers were persuaded to procure the machines from co-operatives to aggregate the stubble and convert it into fertiliser, which .