European automaker Volkswagen India has extended its enhanced service support to affected customers in Tamil Nadu following the impact of heavy rains and flooding in the state, the company said on Saturday. The initiative, with effect from December 22, would offer service support to flood affected car owners including Roadside Assistance, special benefits on parts, labour costs and car care treatment among others. "Extended service support across regions such as Chennai, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin cities. In addition, the warranty and extended warranty coverage for flood-affected vehicles at these locations are extended until January 31, 2024," a company statement here said. The benefit can be availed by customers opting for insurance or cash claims. In collaboration with insurance companies, Volkswagen India said it was also ensuring swift settlement of claims, facilitating a streamlined process for affected customers. Affected customers can directly contact Volkswagen Roadside ...
Tamil Nadu has faced heavy rains in the last 24 hours. As per the official report, over 7500 people have been shifted to relief camps from residential colonies. Know more details here
Former minister and AIADMK leader Sellur Raju also sent a truck carrying relief supplies including rice, water bottles and vegetables to the flood-affected people in Chennai
Cyclone Michaung has caused a huge destruction in the southern part of India. So far, 9 people lost their lives due to cyclone Michaung. Here's the latest updates
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has formed a high-level committee headed by the Delhi chief secretary for the demarcation of the Yamuna floodplain, besides suggesting measures to prevent and remove encroachments and unauthorised constructions from it. The NGT was hearing a matter where it had taken suo-motu (on its own) cognisance of a media report, according to which flooding occurs in the national capital because of the unauthorised constructions in the Yamuna floodplain. A bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava said according to the report, delineation of the river is required to prevent illegal developments in the floodplain and there are about 76 unauthorised colonies in the area concerned (where floods occurred), besides large-scale encroachment. Several areas in Delhi were inundated due to a rise in the Yamuna's water level and nearly 27,000 people from the floodplain were evacuated and sheltered at safe places in July. "The newspaper report reflects that a .
Heavy rains have once again lashed Kerala. IMD has issued an orange alert in 4 districts including Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki. Watch the video to learn more
Flooding triggered by heavy monsoon rains in Myanmar's southern areas has displaced more than 14,000 people and disrupted traffic on the rail lines that connect the country's biggest cities, officials and state-run media said Monday. State television MRTV reported Monday evening that the number of displaced people in Bago township, about 68 km (42 miles) northeast of Yangon, the country's biggest city, had climbed to that figure, and they were taking shelter in 36 relief camps. It said almost 1,000 more people in Mon state's township, just east of Bago, were sheltering in three relief camps, and there some evacuations in a northern part of Yangon. A senior official at the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Lay Shwe Zin Oo, said that constant rainfall in the Bago region that began last week caused the flooding in the low-lying areas of its capital, Bago township. She said there were no casualties reported so far. Bago township recorded 7.87 inches (200 millimetres)
The catastrophe underlines big dam weaknesses
The toll in the flash flood in Sikkim rose to 30 as four more bodies were found on Saturday, while 62 people who were reported missing for the past three days were found alive, a government agency said here. The number of missing people thus came down to 81, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) said in its latest bulletin on Saturday evening. An inter-ministerial central team will visit the flood-hit state from Sunday to assess the damage due to the natural calamity, Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra said here. The flash flood triggered by a cloudburst in the early hours of Wednesday affected 41,870 people in four districts of the Himalayan state, with Mangan bearing the brunt of the calamity as a population of around 30,300 were hit by the disaster, it said. The other three affected districts are Gangtok, Pakyang and Namchi. Of the 30 deaths - four were in Mangan, six in Gangtok district, 19 in Pakyong and one in Namchi. The report said that the 19 deceased peop
The central government is closely monitoring the situation in Sikkim, where a cloudburst and floods led to severe destruction and deaths, and providing all the necessary support and assistance to the state, Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra said on Saturday. Mishra, who is currently visiting the areas hit by Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), cloud burst and flash floods, also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are in constant touch with Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang with regard to the extent of damages and rescue and relief work. The government of India under Prime Minister Modi is standing in solidarity with the people of Sikkim and leaving no stone unturned to restore normalcy in the state, according to an official release. Within a day of the incident, Home Minister Shah has deputed Mishra to visit Sikkim. Mishra reached Gangtok on Friday night, and chaired a meeting with the Chief Secretary and head of departments ..
An inter-ministerial central team will visit flood-hit Sikkim from Sunday to assess the damage due to the natural calamity, Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra said. Mishra, the union minister of state for home affairs, arrived here on Saturday for a three-day visit to the Himalayan state. He said the Centre has been monitoring the flood situation in Sikkim and assured the state administration of all necessary support and assistance. Mishra held a meeting with Chief Secretary V B Pathak and senior officials of the state government, army and other organisations. "The Centre is closely monitoring the situation in Sikkim and all the necessary support and assistance for the state is underway," Mishra said. Officials of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDC) and NHPC Ltd were also present at the meeting. Mishra also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday alleged that the Centre is discriminating against the flood-affected people of north Bengal despite the "gravity" of the disaster in the area and the number of deaths being similar to that in neighbouring Sikkim. She said that the Bengal government has and will continue to help Sikkim at this hour of need. "Bengal is not a beggar", she said demanding "equality in treatment and non-discrimination in matters related to central help". Banerjee mentioned that since the night of the flashflood, her government has sent assistance of Rs 25 crore to Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts and teams senior ministers and officials are still in the affected areas monitoring the situation in the flood-hit north Bengal districts. "The disaster that struck our brothers and sisters in Sikkim has also struck my people in Darjeeling hills and Kalimpong also. The strategic chicken's neck area of West Ben
More than 3,000 tourists are stranded in Lachen and Lachung in Mangan district of Sikkim after flash flood hit the area and cut off all road communications are safe on Saturday, officials said. The Indian Air Force made multiple attempts to carry out rescue and relief operations by Mi-17 helicopters but was unable to fly from Bagdogra as well as Chaten due to the inclement weather, low-lying cloud cover and low visibility conditions in the Lachen and Lachung valley, they said. The roads to Lachen and Lachung are damaged. An alternative route to Chungthang via Dzongu is in the process of being opened for the rescue teams to move forward. Teesta Urja has also provided a chopper for the rescue of tourists and the supply of essential commodities to the Chungtang area. An ITBP team that reached the area is carrying out relief and rescue in Chungthang at the moment, officials said. The India Meteorological Department in a weather forecast with respect to Mangan district said light to ..
The toll in the flash flood in Sikkim mounted to 21 on Friday as Army and NDRF teams worked their way through slushy earth and fast flowing water in the Teesta river basin and downstream north Bengal for the third day in search of those who were swept away and are still missing, officials said. Of the 23 army personnel who were missing from Burdang area, the bodies of seven have been recovered from different areas downstream while one was rescued and the search is on for 15 missing jawans, Chief Minister P S Tamang said. A total of 118 people, including the 15 jawans, remained missing after a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim in the early hours of Wednesday triggered the flash flood. So far, 2,411 people have been evacuated and accommodated at relief camps, while the calamity has affected over 22,000 people, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) said in its latest bulletin. The flash flood in the Teesta River, triggered by the cloudburst in Lhonak Lake, .
Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) has advised people to stay away from the Teesta as the water level was rising due to incessant rains in the upper reaches
Larger questions have also emerged on the ecological sensitivity of the glacial regions around Sikkim, their susceptibility to extreme weather events, rapid infra creation and lack of climate adaptati
Far more people are in harm's way as they move into high flood zones across the globe, adding to an increase in watery disasters from climate change, a new study said. Since 1985, the number of the world's settlements in the riskiest flood zones has increased 122 per cent, compared to 80 per cent for the safest areas, according to a study in Wednesday's journal Nature by researchers at The World Bank. The authors looked at settlement extent and expansion using satellites instead of population, with the world's built-up regions growing 85 per cent overall from 1985 to 2015. People are on a search for better lives and better jobs and then sort of get stuck in bad lands because that's what they can afford, said study co-author Stephane Hallegatte, a World Bank senior climate adviser and expert on disaster economics. He said they know it's dangerous when they arrive. The problem is driven by middle- and low-income countries, the study found. Richer countries like the United States and
The water level in the Teesta river was below the danger mark at 1 pm on Wednesday and there is no flood situation around it, according to Central Water Commission data. Three people died and 23 Army personnel were washed away earlier in the day after a cloudburst over the Lhonak Lake in north Sikkim resulted in a flash flood in the Teesta River basin, which was aggravated by the release of water from a dam, officials said. According to the Central Water Commission (CWC), the water level at three stations Melli, Singtam and Rohtak on the Teesta is below the danger mark but hovering near it. The water level at station Melli is 214.63 metres, while the danger level is 224 metres, it showed. "It has a rising trend. Water level is below warning Level. So, there is no flood situation around Melli," the CWC said on its app. The current water level at station Singtam is 351.31 metres while the danger level is at 355.09 metres. "Water Level is below warning level. So, there is no flood
The West Bengal government on Monday said that there is a high possibility of flood in seven districts of the state due to continued incessant rainfall in the upper catchment areas of neighbouring Jharkhand. Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi on Monday afternoon held an urgent virtual meeting with senior officials of the districts of Paschim Bardhaman, Bankura, Birbhum, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Medinipur, Hooghly and Howrah and directed them to immediately take all forms of precautionary measures. "During the meeting, the chief secretary directed all District Magistrates and SPs to immediately identify low-lying and flood-prone areas as well as start monitoring waterlogging and embankment breaches and take proper steps for their remedies," an official statement said. "The chief secretary informed the meeting that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rainfall to continue till October 5 with heavy rainfall predicted tomorrow. The well-marked low-pressure area is currently
New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Friday across all of New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley, saying state agencies were prepared to offer assistance