Page 623 - Disaster Accident
Kejriwal holds meeting as Yamuna crosses danger mark
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday held an emergency meeting with the Chief Secretary and the Flood Control Department on the possibility of flood in the national capital due to the release of 5 lakh cusecs water from Haryana's Hathnikund barrage.
Uncontained wildfire destroys 500 structures in California
Only a handful of homes remain in the small northern California community of Keswick. The air chokes with the smell of smoke and chemicals, smoldering what's left of people's lives. The so-called Carr Fire roared through Shasta County, so thoroughly eating up homes, that it's difficult to tell how many once stood in the ruins. Somewhere in the ash was the home of Shyla and Jason Campbell. Jason, a firefighter, was six hours away from his home and family, battling a wildfire near Yosemite Valley, when the Carr Fire moved in. Shyla, 32, said it was nearly 2 a.m. Thursday when she got an official alert to evacuate. "It's huge flames, it's coming up the hill, and everyone's out and we're watching it, then it goes down, and everyone's like, 'Oh it's going out,' " she said. "And I'm like, 'No, it's going down the mountain and it's going to come back up the next ridge.' " She was right. The family spent the night at a hotel. When Jason Campbell returned on Friday, he found their home of five
Rs 70 lakh worth of adulterated coconut oil seized
A total of 6.4 tonnes of adulterated coconut oil, worth Rs 70 lakh, was seized from a godown near here today, sources in the Food Safety Department said. Acting on a tip-off, the officials of the department raided the godown, sent the samples of the oil for testing and sealed the warehouse, they said.
London airports, trains disrupted by extreme weather
Tourists and Britons hoping to go on vacation are enduring another day of travel trouble in Britain after severe weather led to flight cancellations and delays on cross-Channel trains. A week of extreme heat gave way to thunderstorms yesterday, touching off travel delays today. Budget airline Ryanair says yesterday night's thunderstorms, along with air traffic control staff shortages, led to 14 cancelled flights at Stansted Airport. Other London-area airports Luton, Gatwick and Heathrow also warned of delays. Nats, the UK air traffic control service, says the unpredictable nature of the storms means aircraft are not able to fly their usual routes. The service says the thunderstorms "effectively block large swathes of airspace because aircraft cannot fly through them." Eurotunnel passengers faced a third day of disruption on the cross-Channel service.
Rahul expresses grief over Maharashtra bus accident
Congress president Rahul Gandhi expressed grief over the death of 33 staff members of an agriculture university in a road accident in Maharashtra today. "I'm sorry to hear about the terrible bus accident in Raigad, Maharashtra in which a large number of people have been killed and many others injured. I appeal to Congress party workers in the area to provide all possible assistance to the injured and families of those who have died," Gandhi tweeted. The staff members of a varsity were killed when the bus in which they were travelling skidded off the road and rolled down a deep gorge in Raigad district this afternoon.
Kejriwal holds emergency meeting as Hry releases over 5 lakh cusec water
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held an emergency meeting today with top officials of his government, including Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, to take stock of the situation after the Yamuna crossed the danger mark here. The water level reached 205.30 metres at 7 pm today, prompting authorities here to evacuate people from low-lying areas, officials said. Kejriwal said all departments have been put on high alert. "Haryana has released 5 lakh cusec water. Called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. This water likely to reach Del by tomo eve. Wherever administration evacuating people, they r requested to cooperate. All depts put on high alert. For any flood related emergency, control room no is 1077 (sic)," he tweeted. The Yamuna water level at the Hathinikund barrage has crossed the danger mark of 90,000 cusec and till 7 pm, 5,63,186 cusec of water was released. The water level of the Yamuna river at the Old Delhi Railway Bridge rose to 205.30 metres by 7 pm and is ...
Bus carrying varsity staff falls into gorge in Maha; 33 dead
Thirty-three staff members of an agriculture university in Maharashtra were killed when the bus they were travelling in skidded off the road and rolled down a deep gorge in Raigad district this afternoon, officials said. The private bus was carrying 34 staff members of the university on a picnic. It fell into a 500-feet deep gorge at Ambenali Ghat near Poladpur town, around 180 km from here, District Collector Vijay Suryawanshi told PTI over the phone. Thirty-three passengers died in the accident which took place at around 12.30 pm, he said. SP Anil Paraskar said the passengers were on their way to Mahabaleshwar, a hill station in Satara district in Western Maharashtra, for a picnic, when the driver lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a turn and it fell into the gorge. All the bus passengers were staff of the Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth at Dapoli in Raigad district, he said. A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was at the spot to pull out the
2 killed, thousands flee as deadly wildfire devastates California
A raging wildfire in California has killed two firefighters and prompted 38,000 evacuations, destroying scores of homes and threatening other dwellings and businesses.
IMD brings system to give out updates on lightning strikes across country
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has launched a system that provides information of lightning strikes across the country every 15 minutes, a senior official said today. The information is updated on the IMD website based on data from satellite INSAT-3D, IMD Additional Director General Mritunjay Mohapatra said. Occurrences of lightning strikes are divided in the system into three time slots of 10, 20 and 30 minutes and are marked on a map with different colours. "It is updated every 15 minutes. However, the data is provided by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) every two minutes," A K Mitra, the coordinator of the project, said. IITM Pune, an institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, has a network of ground stations to detect lightning. According to the IMD data, in 2015, of the 1,600 people killed due to extreme weather events, 415 had died due to lightening, with most of the cases occurring in eastern India. Maharashtra also witnesses a high number of .
Ukd govt asks disaster management dept to remain alert after unabated rain
The Uttarakhand government today asked the Disaster Management Department to remain alert following continuous rain in most parts of the state and the MeT department warning of more rainfall over the next 72 hours. Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh spoke to all district magistrates on phone and asked them to maintain a strict vigil at places prone to water logging, villages with no connectivity and people residing in riverside towns and villages, an official release said. The chief secretary instructed the Disaster Management Department to remain on the alert and keep the Immediate Response System (IRS) fully active, it said. The SDRF deployed in sensitive locations was also asked to be prepared to deal with any exigency. The chief secretary was himself taking updates from all the districts magistrates on phone, the release added. He was also taking stock of the connectivity, food situation and preparations of relief and rescue works. The Meteorological (MeT) office has forecast heavy
Uttar Pradesh rainfall- 58 dead
58 have been killed and 53 others got injured in rain-related incidents in Uttar Pradesh.The causalities were reported after rain wreaked havoc in parts of the state.11 deaths have been reported in Saharanpur followed by 10 in Meerut, Six from Agra, three deaths each were reported from Muzaffarnagar Kasganj and Manipuri.The state has also suffered loss of cattle.According to the MeT Department, several districts of the state i.e. Sonebhadra, Mirzapur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Ballia, Maunath Bhanjan, Azamgarh, Deoria districts will continue to receive heavy rains and thundershowers.In the wake of incessant pouring causing havoc in the state, the state government has directed officials to provide relief in the affected areas.
Raigad accident: Maharashtra Govt gives compensation to victims' family
The Maharashtra Government on Saturday announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 4 lakh to the family of those who died in Raigad bus accident.The government also decided to bear the medical expenses of those who were injured in the accident.As many as 30 people were killed and many others injured earlier today after a school bus fell down a mountain road in Ambenali Ghat of Maharashtra's Raigad district.The students were on their way to Mahabaleshwar for picnic when the incident took place.Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident and tweeted, "Pained by the loss of lives due to a bus accident in Maharashtra's Raigad district. My condolences to those who lost their loved ones.
Roof of house collapses in Ghaziabad, five of family injured
Five members of a family were injured today when the roof of their house came down on them in Ghaziabad's Patla village, police said. The roof collapsed this morning in Patla village under the Niwari police station limits, they said. The police, with the help of villagers, pulled out the family members from under the debris and rushed them to hospital. The injured were identified as Gyanesh (40), his wife Manju (34), their children -- Siva (8), Muskan (12), and Shivani (6).
Rain fury claims 31 lives in UP; Yamuna breaches danger mark in Delhi
Torrential rains continued to batter parts of north India today, with worst-hit Uttar Pradesh recording 31 rain-related deaths and the Yamuna breaching the danger mark in the national capital, prompting authorities to evacuate people from low-lying areas. Fifty-eight people have died and 53 suffered injuries in rain-related incidents in UP since Thursday, officials said today. Till yesterday, the number of deaths stood at 27. Eleven people lost their lives in Saharanpur, 10 in Meerut, six in Agra, four in Mainpuri, three each in Muzaffarnagar and Kasganj, two each in Amroha, Bareilly, Baghpat and Bulandshahr and one each in Kanpur Dehat, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Rae Bareli, Jalaun, Jaunpur, Pratapgarh, Banda, Firozabad, Amethi, Kanpur and Pilibhit districts, they said. About 23 cm of rainfall was recorded in Meerut, 13 cm each in Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar, 10 cm in Bijnore, 8 cm in Moradabad, 7 cm in Etawah, 6 cm each in Hardoi and Baheri, 5 cm each in Kannauj, Gautam Budhnagar, .
537 dead in monsoon rains, floods in 6 states
As many as 537 people have lost their lives in floods and rains in six states during the monsoon season so far. According to the Home Ministry's National Emergency Response Centre (NERC), 139 people have died in Maharashtra, 126 in Kerala, 116 in West Bengal, 70 in Uttar Pradesh, 52 in Gujarat and 34 in Assam due to the floods and rains. The deluge and rains have hit 26 districts in Maharashtra, 22 in West Bengal, 21 in Assam, 14 in Kerala, 10 in Gujarat and a large part of Uttar Pradesh so far. In Assam, 10.17 lakh people have borne the brunt of rains and floods, of which 2.17 lakh are living in relief camps. Twelve teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are engaged in rescue and relief operations in Assam, the NERC said. A team of the NDRF comprises 45 personnel. A total of 1.61 lakh people have been affected by rains and floods in West Bengal where eight NDRF teams are deployed. Four people are missing and 19 others injured following heavy rains in West Bengal. In ...
Six of family killed as building collapses in Saharanpur
Six members of a family, including a baby, were killed and a boy was injured after a building collapsed due to incessant rains in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, police said today. The incident took place last night under Gangoh police station limits, they said. According to SP (rural) Vidya Sagar Mishra, the deceased were residents of Ilahi Baksh colony. They were identified as Faizan (40), his wife Israna (35), their two sons -- Faisal (13) and Jainab (one-and-a-half-month-old), and daughters Saina (11) and Rani (9), he said. The locals woke up to a loud thud after the building collapsed. The police, with the help of the neighbours, pulled out the family from under the debris and rushed them to hospital. Six of the family members succumbed to their injuries, Mishra said, adding that the couple's son is the lone survivor and is undergoing treatment. The bodies have been sent for postmortem, the police said.
Two washed away in Himachal flash floods
Two pilgrims have been washed away in flash floods in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district, an official said today. The duo, identified as Kuldeep Thakur (32) of Shimla and Sangeeta More (43) of Pune, were part of more than 280 pilgrims who got stranded due to incessant rains near Tangling village in Kalpa area last evening. They were going to pay obeisance at Kinnaur Kailash in the district, the official said. Till this evening, the police and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) have rescued as many as 260 pilgrims, he said. At least 20 pilgrims are still stranded and the rescue operation is on, he added.
Evacuation begins as Yamuna level rises in Delhi (Fourth Lead)
The authorities in Delhi on Saturday began to evacuate hundreds of people living in the Yamuna catchment area as a flood threat loomed following a sharp rise in the river's level, officials said.
Evacuation begins as Yamuna level rises in Delhi (Third Lead)
The authorities in Delhi on Saturady began to evacuate hundreds of people living in the Yamuna catchment area as a flood threat loomed following a sharp rise in the river's level, officials said.
IRF urges political parties to come together for early passage of Motor Bill in Rajya Sabha
International Road Federation (IRF) today urged all political parties to come together for early passage of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing session of Parliament. "Given that Indian roads witness over 5 lakh accidents each year resulting in about 1.47 lakh fatalities, the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill is an important step towards strengthening the legal framework for improving road safety in India," IRF Chairman K K Kapila said in a statement. The Bill which has already been passed by the Lok Sabha was introduced in the Upper House in April 2017 but was referred to a select panel. "The passage of Bill will help close major gaps in the legislative framework that governs road safety in the country. India, as a signatory to the United Nations Brasilia Declaration, is committed to reducing road traffic fatalities by 50 per cent by 2020," Kapila said. Higher penalties for traffic offences will help in reducing fatal road accidents in India, which ...