Page 672 - Disaster Accident
Over 300 Indian pilgrims stranded in Nepal rescued
Over 300 pilgrims were rescued on Wednesday from Nepalganj-Simikot-Hilsa route of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, which passes through Nepal.The Indian Embassy in Nepal is closely monitoring the situation in the region and is taking various steps to evacuate Indians and Indian-origin people from the area.The embassy operated five flights and three sorties of Nepal Army chopper and evacuated 119 people from Simikot to Surkhet.They were later sent from Surkhet to Nepalganj through buses.Apart from this, the Indian embassy in Nepal has also operated 35 sorties of choppers between Hilsa and Simikot and evacuated close to 200 people from the region.The Embassy is further looking into the possibility of hiring chartered choppers and operating them on various evacuation routes subject to weather condition.Earlier in the day, mortal remains of the two Indian pilgrims, one from Andhra Pradesh and another from Kerala, were brought to Kathmandu and Nepalganj by a special helicopter.The Indian Embassy .
Coal India asks thermal plants not to limit intake to avert future crisis
State-owned Coal India today said it has asked power plants not to restrict intake of coal during monsoon when electricity demand drops usually. "Coal India (CIL) has urged power stations not to restrict intake of coal during monsoon period when power generation demand drops, but to use this period as an opportunity to build stocks to cope up with subsequent increase in generation demand," the company said in a statement. Most of thermal power stations faced crisis situation last year as they had chosen to restrict intake of coal due to subdued power generation demand during 2016-17 and started consuming the inventory to cope with the spurt in demand for power in 2017-18. "The situation could have been averted had they realised inherent logistics constraints for rushing coal to power plants widely dispersed across the country at short notices and maintained safe stocks as per the norms prescribed by CEA," it said. Coal India and Indian Railways are working in synergy to help ensure ...
900 pilgrims stranded in Hilsa, Simikot: Nepal Army
Nepal Army spokesperson Gokul Bhandari on Wednesday said that almost 900 Kailash Mansarovar Yatra pilgrims were still stranded in Hilsa and Simikot areas.Speaking to ANI on the rescue operations, Bhandari said, "Simikot is a district headquarter, so there's no problem there. But, Hilsa is on an altitude of over 11,000 ft. It is located on the Nepal-China border. Civil operators are evacuating people from Hilsa to Simikot. Two flights have been completed, and a third one is going to Simikot."He further underscored that rescue operations could not be carried out on July 3 owing to bad weather conditions in Surkhet."One MI-17 helicopter of the Nepalese Army is stationed in Surkhel. The weather was bad in Surkhel yesterday. But, it was good in Simikot and Nepalgunj. Civil operators did their job in Simikot and Nepalganj. Elderly and sick people are being evacuated on priority," Bhandari added.Asked about challenges hampering rescue operations, he said that the afternoon winds and the high
Gadkari flags off taxi ambulance service
Union Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday flagged-off the taxi-ambulance service initiated by the Wagon Cab start-up.
New infrastructure to be created anywhere should be resilient to disaster: India
India today said it is ready to work with other nations and stake-holders and share best practices to build partnerships and collaborate in the domain of resilient infrastructure to reduce disaster risk. Presenting the country statement at the Asian Ministerial Conference of Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) being held here, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said India has adopted the Sendai Framework for disaster risk reduction and it outlined a 10-point agenda to provide a practical roadmap for its implementation in the country and the region. The Sendai Framework is a 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement which recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders. Rijiju highlighted the urgent need to ensure that the new infrastructure to be created anywhere should be resilient to disaster. "As our earnest endeavour,
A day ahead of Andheri bridge collapse, rly asked engineers to change inspection regime
Just a day before the collapse of a road over-bridge in Mumbai's Andheri, the railway board issued a letter to senior zonal engineers directing that all its bridges be inspected regularly till they are put to use, and not just after they are commissioned, as is the norm currently. In the letter dated July 2, the board issued this directive to all principal chief engineers across zones. The next day i.e. on July 3, the 40-year-old road over-bridge in Andheri collapsed on railway track injuring five people and disrupting rail services. A railway board official said, the letter was issued today, a day after the collapse, but that it has nothing to do with the incident. However, the letter carries the date as July 2. "As per existing practice, new bridges/ROBs constructed on new lines, doubling/gauge conversion are inspected after commissioning of the line/bridge only. It is observed that in some cases, there is large time gap in completion of a bridge and its commissioning and during ...
WB govt sounds alert in north Bengal following heavy rains
The West Bengal government today sounded an alert in the seven north Bengal districts following heavy rains in the region. "District magistrates of seven districts of north Bengal have been asked to be on alert in the wake of heavy rains in the region," the disaster management department sources said. As per the directive of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the DMs have been asked to coordinate with the officials till the grass-roots level, a senior official said. The sources said the Torsha river is flowing near the danger level but the situation is under control and the government is keeping a tab on the situation. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) sources said Coochbehar reported 78.6 mm in 24 hours till 8.30 am today and Jalpaiguri 96.1 mm in the same period. The weatherman warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall in the north Bengal districts till tomorrow and heavy rains thereafter till Friday morning.
250 stranded Indian Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims evacuated from Hilsa
Over 250 Indian pilgrims were evacuated from Nepal's mountainous Hilsa region today, as authorities stepped up efforts to rescue those stranded there due to heavy rain while returning from the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage in Tibet. Another 336 Indians were moved from Simikot to Surkhet and Nepalganj, an Indian Embassy official told PTI. The mission was monitoring the situation in the Nepalganj-Simikot-Hilsa sector and taking all possible measures to evacuate all stranded Indian nationals and Indian-origin people from the area. "On the Hilsa-Simikot sector, helicopters made 50 sorties evacuating 250 people from Hilsa," the official said. While Hilsa is extremely infrastructure lean, Simikot has decent boarding, communication and medical facilities. "Today, 17 flights, three Nepal Army choppers and one chartered small chopper operated during the day, evacuating 336 Indians from Simikot to Surkhet and Nepalganj," the official said. All people evacuated to Surkhet were provided buses to .
Army rescues stranded passengers in J&K
The Army on Wednesday said it has rescued a large number of passengers stranded in 50 vehicles due to landslides on the Mughal Road connecting Jammu region with the Kashmir Valley.
SC seeks reply from states on fire safety norms violation
The Supreme Court today sought response from all states on a PIL that alleged that builders and developers were violating fire safety norms specified in the National Building Code (NBC) of 2016. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud issued notice to all the states and sought their response in four weeks. The Centre on other hand put the onus on the states for implementation of NBC saying fire safety is a state subject and falls under the purview of urban local bodies or urban development authorities. "That as far as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is concerned, its role is more of an advisory nature and give directions to the state government/UT administration for preparing/amending the state building byelaws as per the Model Building Bye-laws, 2016," the Centre in its affidavit said. It said that the NBC-2016 has been prepared by Bureau of India Standards of Ministry of Consumer Affairs and is not a statutory document but an ...
8 killed, 5 wounded as fire, blasts rip through firecracker
A blaze ripped through a firecracker manufacturing unit on the outskirts of Telangana's Warangal city today, setting off a series of blasts that left eight people dead and five injured, officials said. The cause of the fire that quickly spread to large parts of the factory at Kotilingala village of Warangal, about 150 km north-east of state capital Hyderabad, was not yet known. "There were two huge blasts followed by smaller ones," Warangal District Fire Officer M Bhagwan Reddy told PTI. He said the exact cause of the blaze and the blasts was being ascertained. Earlier reports suggested that the blaze could have been caused by an electrical short-circuit. Three of those killed were charred beyond recognition, an official said. Body parts were strewn across the place, which lay enveloped in soot and stench of burnt flesh. Many of the deceased were suspected to be women as most workers at the factory were women from nearby localities, District Collector M Haritha ...
Another road bridge on Mumbai railway line cracks up, repaired
Adding to the ongoing monsoon woes, an important road bridge with two pedestrian walkways on Grant Road station in south Mumbai was closed after potentially dangerous cracks were noticed on Wednesday.
2 minors among four persons rescued in flash floods in Udhampur
Four persons, including two minors, trapped in flash floods, were rescued by police in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district. Two women, along with their children, were crossing Ghordi nallah when suddenly flash floods occurred in the rivulet yesterday, a police official said. They took shelter on big boulders in the nallah and after getting information, police and locals rushed to the area and launched a rescue operation, he said. All the four were rescued safely, the official said.
Action would be taken against those polluting coal belt: Rai
Jharkhand Minister Saryu Rai today said here that the government would take action against those polluting the coal belt of the state. The minister said companies engaged in transporting coal do not follow environment guidelines and transport coal uncovered which pollutes the environment. Rai, the Food and Supply minister said the state government would soon issue directive to all coal companies to initiate safety measures to check pollution. He launched a campaign of making the coal belt of the state pollution and plastic free. He urged the residents of Jharia to shun plastic and plant trees for safety and healthy life of their future generation. Rai said "10 years ago I had launched 'Damodar Nadi Bachao Andolan' and today Damodar river, which is called life line of Dhanbad Bokaro residents, is today almost pollution free. So success of Damodar river campaign has encouraged me to kick start the campaign against air pollution of Jharia.
Three dozen dead in Indonesia ferry accident
Nearly three dozen people have died after a ferry ran aground off the coast of Indonesia, according to an updated official toll today, the latest deadly maritime accident in the Southeast Asian archipelago. The KM Lestari was believed to be carrying nearly 190 people when damage to its hull forced the captain to ground the vessel on Tuesday afternoon about 300 metres (yards) off Selayar island, near the larger island of Sulawesi. Images from the scene showed terrified passengers clinging to the side of the tipped over ferry, while others floated in the sea awaiting help. Waves swamped the boat's deck, sweeping trucks and other vehicles on the ferry overboard, as rescuers battled high winds and rough seas to pluck victims from the water. Indonesia's disaster agency said 34 people died in the accident while 155 passengers have been rescued, it added. A fleet of smaller boats, including local fishing vessels, worked to save passengers as bad weather prevented larger craft from ...
Mumbai plane crash: Prelim report in 'few' days says Somaiya
BJP lawmaker Kirit Somaiya today said that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is likely to submit its preliminary report on the Ghatkopar plane crash in the next "few" days. Somaiya, who represents Mumbai north east parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha, also said that the full report is expected to take about six months. Five people, four crew members including two pilots and a pedestrian, lost their lives when the 12-seater Beechcraft King Air C90 aircraft, belonging to private charter operator UY Aviation, crashed into an under-construction building in the busy Ghatkopar suburb of north east Mumbai on June 28 during a test flight. The AAIB, which is the apex aircraft investigation agency under the civil aviation ministry, has been entrusted with the probe. "Had meeting with DG Beer Singh Rai & his colleague of AAIB Delhi on Ghatkopar Airplane Crash. Preliminary report expected in few days, final report in 6 months," Somaiya said in a ...
Scars still fresh Five years since the Uttarakhand floods
Dehradun, July 4 (IANS/Mongabay) H.P. Upreti, an ex-serviceman lives in the Shakti Vihar locality of the Srinagar town of Uttarakhand. He vividly recalls the day, five years ago, when one of the worst natural disasters struck his hometown. "The water came rushing in. It was everywhere. Its a scene I will never forget."
Don't restrict coal intake during monsoon: CIL to power plants
The Coal India Ltd (CIL) has urged power stations "not to restrict intake of coal during monsoon period when power generation demand drops", but to use this period as an opportunity to build stocks to cope with subsequent increase in power demand, a statement said on Wednesday.
Traffic on Kalka-Shimla track restored
Rail traffic on the Kalka-Shimla track -- a world heritage site -- was disrupted for over two hours on Wednesday in Himachal Pradesh owing to landslides following rainfall, an official said.
Nearly 200 stranded Indian Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims evacuated from Hilsa
Nearly 200 Indian pilgrims were evacuated from Nepal's mountainous Hilsa region today, as authorities stepped up efforts to rescue those stranded there due to heavy rain while returning from the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage in Tibet. Another 119 people were moved from Simikot to Surkhet, the Indian Embassy here said in a statement. The Indian mission was monitoring the situation in the Nepalganj-Simikot-Hilsa sector and taking all possible measures to evacuate all stranded Indian nationals and Indian-origin people from the area. "On the Hilsa-Simikot sector, helicopters made 35 sorties evacuating close to 200 people from Hilsa to Simikot," the embassy said. "With a view to expediting the evacuation process, the embassy is also exploring the possibility of hiring chartered helicopters and operating them on various evacuation routes subject to weather condition and willingness/ability of carrier to ply on these routes," it said. While Hilsa is extremely infrastructure lean, Simikot has