Page 31 - Floods

Climate Change intensified rain that fueled Pakistan floods, heatwave

In addition to the rainfall, a heat wave in India and Pakistan earlier this year, also fueled by climate change, worsened the flooding that left a third of Pakistan under water, the scientists found.

Extreme weather, wildfires, floods jeopardise health care services: Report

Dr. Suzy Fitzgerald remembers looking out the windows as wildfire flames surrounded the hospital where she worked. We had fire in all three directions, Fitzgerald recalled. I thought, Oh gosh, this is serious. We need to get these people out.' Fitzgerald helped with the evacuation of 122 patients from Kaiser Permanente's Santa Rosa Medical Center on that night nearly five years ago, as the blaze gobbled up homes and buildings across Northern California. The hospital, which had filled with smoke, closed for 17 days. Medical centers around the country say that fires, flooding, heat waves and other extreme weather are jeopardizing medical services, damaging health care facilities and forcing patients to flee their hospital beds, according to a report released Thursday by the House Ways and Means Committee. At a hearing, Dr. Parinda Khatri, the CEO of Cherokee Health Systems, told the committee that a pediatric clinic in Knoxville, Tennessee, was forced to close for 10 days this summer

Bengaluru encroachments: Penalise builders, BBMP, says Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Biotechnology industry veteran Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has suggested penalising city civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) for giving permissions leading to encroachments of storm water drains (SWDs) that resulted in the recent floods. The Executive Chairperson of Bengaluru-headquartered biopharmaceuticals company Biocon said the anti-encroachment drive launched by the BMMP this week to clear illegal structures sitting on SWDs, is a long overdue measure to address water logging which caused unprecedented havoc in parts of Bengaluru two weeks ago. "The question that begs to be answered is whether there will be a parallel investigation into how the BBMP and BDA gave permissions in the first place", she told PTI. "Moreover, we need to go beyond knee jerk quick fixes and find holistic long term solutions. For example, razing buildings will impact helpless and innocent homeowners. Why not penalise developers and BDA/BBMP and use that

5 killed due to flood-related incidents in Pakistan in 24 hrs: Authorities

Two children and a woman were among those who lost their lives in separate flood-related incidents, according to an NDMA report released on Wednesday evening

Traffic, water shortages, now floods: Is Bengaluru dying a slow death?

Concrete replaced green spaces and construction around the edge of lakes blocked off connecting canals, limiting the city's capacity to absorb and siphon off water

Pakistan rejects flood relief donation worth $145,000 from Bangladesh

Pakistan has rejected Bangladesh's offer to supply humanitarian aid worth 14 million takas (roughly $145,000) as the country continued to suffer great loss during monsoon flooding

IT parks, posh villas top list of stormwater drain encroachers in Bengaluru

The Bengaluru civic agency has identified several illegal structures that have come up on stormwater drains, which had recently caused severe flooding in parts of the city, particularly information technology (IT) corridors and arterial roads. The anti-encroachment drive echoed in the state assembly as well. Speaking in the House on Wednesday, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai reiterated that there will not be any discrimination in the drive to free illegal occupants of stormwater drains. According to an Assistant Executive Engineer (Stormwater Drain-Mahadevapura zone) of the BBMP, Bagmane Techpark, Wipro, and Purva Paradise have encroached on drains across various survey numbers of Mahadevapura zone, which bore the brunt of the rain fury. Real estate firm RBD was another encroacher which occupied drains in Junnasandra, Halanayakanahalli and Doddakannahalli, as per the list, along with 'Ecospace' in Bellandur and Gopalan Group in Hoodi and Bellandur, the AEE stated. Bellan

Insurers juggle surge in claims in aftermath of Bengaluru floods

Three days of heavy rainfall from Sept. 5 saw homes and offices in Bengaluru's IT corridor flooded, sparking chaos and raising questions over poor urban planning.

Wipro, Prestige, Eco Space: Big names on list of encroachers in Bengaluru

The list was made by the state government, after severe flooding in the parts of Bengaluru, to find the names of buildings that have closed nearly 700 drains in the city

Bengaluru rains: How bad infra took Indian Silicon Valley under the weather

The flood on August 30, which brought parts of Bengaluru to its knees, led to a loss of about Rs 225 crore in a single day

Pak's economic loss due to massive floods might be over $40 bn: FM

The recent cataclysmic floods that have ravaged Pakistan may have caused over USD 40 billion in economic losses and damages, according to an initial assessment. The new number is even far higher than the USD 30 billion figure given by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who was in the country on a solidarity visit last week. The figure of USD 40 billion losses was flagged in a flood response centre meeting of the National Flood Response Coordination Centre (NFRCC) on Monday where the Ministry of Finance presented an assessment report titled An Early Assessment of Flood Impact on Pakistan's Economy, The Express Tribune reported on Tuesday. The finance ministry's initial assessment report showed that economic losses were around USD 18 billion. Planning Minister and Chairman of NFRCC, Ahsan Iqbal said, The devastating conditions suggest that the scale of flood losses is in the range of USD 30 billion to over USD 40 billion." We are going through the process of a ...

CM Bommai assures on time completion of Bengaluru's stormwater drain work

In the backdrop of recent rains and deluge in Bengaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday assured the government will ensure a time-bound completion of the stormwater drain work that is underway across the city and provide more funds for this purpose. Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, he highlighted that the ongoing work of clearing encroachments along the stormwater drains was taking time and the government is at it. Also, the master plan for stormwater drains is being redrawn to increase its capacity, he said. "Work on developing stormwater drains across the city is underway and the work will continue without any break. I have kept Rs 1,500 crore in the budget for this and recently I have given another Rs 300 crore, so it is a total of Rs 1,800 crore for stormwater drains. This will not be enough and an additional budget will be given," Bommai said. He said the government will ensure that a total 859.90 kilometres of stormwater drain work gets completed. "

Watch: From Bengaluru to Mumbai, how climate change is affecting megacities

Bengaluru, India’s Silicon Valley, was once a shining example of rapid urbanisation, job generation, and the growth of new-age businesses. But everything came crashing down when the city had to battle urban flooding in the first two weeks of September 2022. Overnight rain —the heaviest for the month in 75 years — submerged large parts of the city, causing an estimated loss of Rs 225 crore. Watch the video to know how climate change is affecting megacities.

A flooded Bengaluru reminds us of Indian cities' lack of preparation

The money spent by the cities for flood is often far less than needed and since the buy-in from the public is weak, the effectiveness of the projects is shallow

Massive floods likely to reduce Pak's GDP by over 2 percentage points: PM

The massive floods in Pakistan are likely to reduce its GDP by over 2 percentage points and the government is grappling with the immediate challenge of averting an imminent food insecurity in the country, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said. During a telephonic conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday to express gratitude for extending humanitarian relief assistance to Pakistan, Sharif said the ongoing floods have devastated millions of acres of standing crops, houses and critical infrastructure in the country, according to an official statement. The prime minister said as per initial estimates, the floods are likely to reduce Pakistan's GDP by over 2 percentage points. Pakistan is grappling with the immediate challenge of averting an imminent food insecurity in the country as well as providing for rescue and rehabilitation of the victims of this climate-induced calamity, Sharif told Erdogan. He said the government is fighting to avoid food shortages du

Pakistan's saga of mismanagement: Floods, economic crisis, political chaos

The worst floods in several decades have wrecked havoc in Pakistan; more than 1,300 people have died and at least 33 million people are left homeless

Never seen climate carnage on the scale of the floods in Pakistan: UN chief

Antonio Guterres has warned the international community that all countries would suffer damages "beyond their capacity to adapt" if the world failed to respond to the challenge of climate change

Floods in Pakistan put education of 3.5 mn children in jeopardy: UN report

The United Nations released a report on Friday and said that the natural disaster had interrupted the education of nearly 3.5 million children

Maharashtra govt sanctions Rs 3,501 crore relief for rain-affected farmers

The Maharashtra government has sanctioned Rs 3,501 crore as compensation for farmers who suffered losses during heavy rains and floods in different parts of the state over the last three months, an official said on Saturday. As per a government order issued on Thursday, a compensation of Rs 13,600 per hectare will be given for loss of non-irrigated crops, Rs 27,000 per hectare for irrigated crops and Rs 36,000 per hectare for perennial crops. Farmers suffered crop losses due to floods and heavy rains witnessed in parts of the state between June and August this year, it stated. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had earlier announced that his government will hike the compensation for flood-affected persons and the cabinet had also approved the proposal. Accordingly, rain-affected farmers will get Rs 3,501 crore, including the contribution from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the state government.

Woman missing, 28 villages inundated after cloudburst in Uttarakhand

A woman went missing and 28 houses in Khotila village in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district were inundated after a cloudburst triggered a flashflood in the Kali river in the early hours of Saturday, officials said. The cloudburst occurred past midnight in Bangabagar village across the India-Nepal border, causing a flashflood in the Kali river whose raging waters mixed with debris gushed into 28 houses in Khotila, a village on the Indian side of the border, Pithoragarh District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan said. One woman went missing in Khotila village but there are no reports yet of any casualties, he said. The affected area on the Nepal side received 132.2 mm of rain, the DM said. Pithoragarh District Disaster Management Officer Bhupendra Singh Mahar said some animals belonging to the villagers have also been lost. The administration of the border town of Dharchula is running rescue operation on the spot with the help of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and police personnel, Ma