Page 997 - Disaster Accident

TN announces Rs 5000 each to over 1500 tribal families

The Tamil Nadu government today announced a financial assistance of Rs 5000 each for over 1500 tribal families affected by cyclone Ockhi in Kanyakumari district. Chief Minister K Palaniswami said it was brought to his notice that 1,524 tribal families in various parts in Kanyakumari could not take up their vocation following the cyclone and that their livelihood had been severely affected. "Considering their situation, I have directed that a relief of Rs 5000 be provided to each family," he said in a statement. Kanyakumari was one of the worst-hit districts by Cyclone Ockhi. Many fishermen from the district are stranded elsewhere while others are still missing. The state government has already announced relief for fishermen and farmers of the district.

Rly set to electrify 38,000 km route in next five years

Railways has prepared an action plan to electrify 38,000 km route in five years from 2017-18, the ministry informed the Rajya Sabha today. In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said the pace of electrification has been increased to achieve 100 per cent electrification of broad gauge (BG) rail routes. Currently, only 42 per cent of total track network is electrified and the rest is operating on fossil fuel. The minister said that in 2017-2018 the national transporter has set a target of electrifying 4,000 km route, while in the next fiscal the target is to electrify 6,000 km route. In 2019-20, 7,000 km route will be electrified, while in 2020-2021 and the next year, the target is of 10,500 km route each. Among the states, the most route km to be identified for electrification - 1991 - in Rajasthan, followed by Assam (1,448 km route) Uttar Pradesh (1,308 km route) and Gujarat (1088 km route). "To achieve 100 per cent electrification .

One trapped after slab of south Mumbai building collpases

One worker was trapped under debris and eight others received injuries after a portion of a building collapsed in south Mumbai's Zaveri Bazar area today afternoon. According to an official from the Disaster Management Unit of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the slab collapse took place during repairing of 50/52, Shimpi Chawl building in Zaveri Bazar. The incident happened around 1pm, he said. Officials said that there were nine workers at the time of incident and and all except one have been rescued. The injury of one worker of the eight rescued was minor, he added. "One person is still missing and search is on for the ninth worker," he said adding that the cause of collapse would be ascertained only after a detailed inquiry. He said that a fire engine, a rescue van, an ambulance along with fire brigade personnel were deployed for rescue work. "The building belonged to MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority)and it was being repaired under the

Will constitute disaster management body for Mumbai by Jan:

The Maharashtra government today informed the Bombay High Court that it will constitute a special Disaster Management Authority for Mumbai and its suburbs by January next year. The government also told the HC that it will come up with a crisis management plan to assess prevalence of water scarcity and to deal with water crises and drought situations across the state. The submissions came while a bench of justices AS Oka and MS Sonak was hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Sanjay Lakhe Patil seeking information on measures taken by the state for drought mitigation, especially in areas like Marathwada and Vidarbha. During the previous hearings in the case, it had come to light that the state did not have a separate crisis management plan to deal with water scarcity across the state. It was also revealed that there was no separate disaster management authority for Mumbai and its suburbs even though the same was mandated by statutory laws. While the component of ...

French school bus crash toll rises to 6: police source

The death toll from a crash between a school bus and a train in southern France rose to six today as two 11-year-old girls succumbed to their injuries, a police source said. Four teenagers had died yesterday in the accident at a level crossing in the village of Millas near the city of Perpignan. Eighteen others were injured, including 14 children.

3 die in small plane crash in southwestern Germany

Prosecutors say two Austrians and a German have been killed in a crash of a small plane in southwestern Germany. The Cessna 510 crashed late yesterday in a wooded area near the city of Ravensburg. The plane had taken off in Frankfurt and was heading to Friedrichshafen, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the crash site. Konstanz chief prosecutor Wolfgang Angster said today that two of the dead were the plane's Austrian pilots, a 45- year-old from the Voralberg region and a 49-year-old from Vienna. Also killed was a 79-year-old German passenger living in the Lake Constance region. Emergency responders were able to recover the bodies despite heavy snowfall but the investigation into the cause of the accident had to be put on hold due to adverse weather.