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GUWAHATI: Flood situation in Assam worsened on Sunday with 43 more villages in three districts getting submerged, while water entered the Kaziranga National Park where an antelope was killed, officials said. About 65,000 people of 170 villages in seven districts - Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup, Karimganj and Lakhimpur - were affected. However, there was no report of any casualty. According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), Brahmaputra and its tributaries Jia Bharali and Dikhow were flowing over danger mark at Jorhat, Sonitpur and Sivasagar. Altogether 43 villages have come under water in Dhemaji, Jorhat and Sivasagar districts since Saturday affecting nearly 5,000 people. Around 800 people are taking shelter in three relief camps in Dhemaji. As per ASDMA records, a total of almost 2,400 hectare of agricultural land with standing crops have been submerged in the affected districts. While heavy rains were reported from various parts of the state, erosio...

DEHRADUN/HARIDWAR: There was still no clarity over the number of deaths in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, with a state minister on Sunday not ruling out an "estimate" of 10,000-plus and chief minister Vijay Bahuguna putting the number of missing people at 3,000. Uttarakhand health minister Surinder Singh Negi did not discount assembly speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal's claim on Saturday of the toll in the tragedy having crossed 10,000. "He (Kunjwal) has given an estimated figure. At the moment, it is an estimate. It can go down, or it could go up. It is too early to give the exact number of deaths in the tragedy that has completely devastated the state," Negi told IANS. The estimates, he said, were based on what evacuated people recounted to the rescue teams and to government officials. Bahuguna, meanwhile, put the number of people missing in the flash floods at 3,000. "After taking into consideration all the missing person reports lodged in this state and els...

LUCKNOW: Incessant rains lashed various parts of Uttar Pradesh, with four people losing their lives in incidents of building collapse, even as major rivers continued to flow above the danger mark. According to a report by the Central Water Commission, Ghaghra, Sharda, Quano, RaandBudhiRapti rivers remained swollen and were flowing above danger level. Quano river was flowing one metre above the danger mark at Chandradeepghat in Gonda, and has crossed the red mark at Mukhlispur in Sant Kabir Nagar. Ghaghra was flowing above danger at Elgin Bridge in Barabanki and Turtipar (Ballia), and has reached near red mark at Ayodhya. Similarly, Sharda was flowing above danger at Paliakalan, whereas Budhi Rapti has crossed red mark at Kakrahi in Siddharth Nagar district. Four persons, including two children, died in incidents of building collapse due to heavy rains during past 24 hours. In Faizabad, a 32-year-old man and his two daughters Ananya (4) and Neha (6) died after their house situated in R...

VADODARA: The Congress has alleged that several areas in the city are receiving contaminated water supply and that it can lead to disease outbreak. The Congress leaders have written to the municipal commissioner urging him to act immediately in areas like Sama and Navayard. According to Congress city president Narendra Ravat, drainage lines in areas like Sama, Navayard and Fulwadi are chocked and overflowing. "The contaminated water is getting mixed with drinking water supply and such overflowing drainage water may lead to disease outbreaks like cholera, malaria and fever," Ravat said. Ravat claimed that over 400 persons have already suffered from fever and diarrhea in last few weeks. Ravat also alleged that neither councilors not Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) officials have visited Sama area despite locals making constant complaints. "We have written several letters to VMC officials and mayor in the past to bring the incidents of leaking pipelines and contaminat...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed his water and power minister to India to address the severe energy crisis facing the country. "We are facing acute electricity shortage and any assistance in the power sector will help us in addressing the problem," Sharif said while speaking to members of the Pak-India Joint Business Council at the Prime Minister's Office yesterday. Sharif told the meeting that he had directed Khawaja Muhammad Asif, minister for water and power, to visit India and explore potential areas of cooperation between the two countries, the official APP news agency reported. Earlier, Asif had said that the energy crisis in Pakistan will take at least two years to be resolved. Asif said that due to shortage of power the country had sustained a huge loss of Rs 1,000 billion in the last five years. Pakistan is currently facing a power deficit of 4,000-5,000 megawatts per day. Earlier this month, Pakistan had sought 500 MW of electr...

DEHRADUN: With the majority of pilgrims evacuated from Badrinath, disposal of bodies lying in affected areas and transportation of relief material to locals in flooded villages on Sunday posed a fresh challenge to authorities in Uttarakhand. Uncertainty prevailed on the 15th day of the calamity over the number of people killed with conflicting casualty figures doing the rounds. 200 more pilgrims were evacuated from Badrinath to Joshimath on Sunday in five choppers amid government claims of only 500 remaining there with enough food material, medicines and doctors to take care of them. Supplying foodgrains to affected villages is proving to be an onerous task for the administration now as trucks loaded with relief material are stuck at different places in the city in the absence of roads which suffered extensive damage in the floods, official sources said. Disposal of bodies in worst-hit Kedarnath valley is going on but the process is slow due to erratic weather conditions, DIG Sanjay G...

GUWAHATI: With the water level in the Brahmaputra and some of its tributaries rising, authorities at Assam's famed Kaziranga National Park - a Unesco World Heritage Site - have commenced their annual ritual of sounding an alert and taking precautionary measures to tackle the possibility of floods. Park Director NK Vasu said the flood management plans were reviewed after the waters entered the park a few days ago. "The park gets flooded every year and this is very important from the ecological point of view. Floods are necessary as they wash away the unwanted weeds from the park," he said. "However, we have put in place a flood management plan anticipating high floods like last year, when animals suffer and poachers also take advantage and kill rhinos inside the park," Vasu said. The worst floods in memory had hit the national park last year, killing several hundred wild animals, including one-horned rhinos, elephants and many other species. Close to 500 hog dee...

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei: The Philippines said Sunday that an increasing Chinese military and paramilitary presence in the disputed South China Sea was a threat to regional peace. Philippine foreign affairs secretary Albert Del Rosario made the statement in a press release issued at a regional security forum attended by his counterparts from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China. "Del Rosario today expressed serious concern over the increasing militarization of the South China Sea," the statement said. He said there was a "massive presence of Chinese military and paramilitary ships" at two groups of islets within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone called Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal. Del Rosario described the Chinese military presence at these islets as "threats to efforts to maintain maritime peace and stability in the region". Del Rosario said the Chinese actions violated a pact made in 2002 in ...

NOIDA: The brief spell of rain might have brought some relief but it also evoked unpleasant memories of waterlogging and traffic jams. Residents, however, are preparing for the worst considering the Noida Authority's poor track record. The Authority's claims of desilting drains rang hollow when last week's showers led to choking of drains, which showed no signs of being cleaned. Officials explained that the pre-monsoon showers had exposed some gaps in their preparation and they were trying to plug them. "The drains in our locality are clogged with garbage. It's a yearly drill before the monsoon. Still, every time it rains, the drains start overflowing and the area is swamped," said Ravikant Singhania, who stays in Sector 12. There are a number of storm-water drains in Noida, most of which empty into the Yamuna while some flow into the Hindon. Two major drains-in Shahdara and Noida-empty out the city's drain water. Though the Authority claims the drains ha...

INDIANAPOLIS: Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky claimed her third title Saturday at the US Swimming Championships with a dominant victory in the 1500m freestyle. On the final night of competition, the 16-year-old flirted with the world record through the first half of the women's 1500m free before finishing with a world-leading time of 15min 47.15 sec. Throughout the race, it was Ledecky against the clock. Chloe Sutton was the runner-up in 16:07.75. "I just wanted to do my own thing and see how fast I could go," Ledecky said of her approach to the event, which isn't raced by women at the Olympics. "I blanked out pretty badly on that swim. "I don't even remember what I was thinking about -- just keep going, get into a rhythm in my breathing, sort of let the sounds of the water and the crowd take over from there." The performance was the fourth-fastest all-time, a meet record and a personal best for the high school student from Bethesda, Maryland,...

GURGAON: They continue to face the usual civic issues, yet the residents of the Belvedere Park Condominium in DLF-III remain hopeful. The condominium, which has 300 units, started way back in 2003, and the diverse background of its residents from all over the country gives it a cosmopolitan feel. "Though it's a pleasant residential complex, residents have to face problem with the arrival of monsoon. There is no exit point for rainwater coming from DLF-III areas, Nathupur and Cyber City. Since the level of the condominium is lower than the road, basements are always inundated after the rain. Residents had a harrowing time last monsoon," Indira Unninayar, president, Belvedere Park Condominium Association (BPCA), said. "The recent works for utility ducts have worsened the condition of the entry road to the condominium. A construction company dug out the entire stretch but left without finishing the roads properly," she added. "The culvert near the condominium...

GURGAON: The massive expansion of sectors in Gurgaon is all set to impact the initiatives of the civic authorities to provide water for construction of housing projects. Last year, after the Punjab and Haryana High Court order, digging borewells in Gurgaon are banned and HUDA is now the nodal agency to provide treated water from STPs to builders. Hundreds of gallons of treated water are being supplied to builders for projects which are in different stages of constructions in Gurgaon. Residents and activists, however, claim that the option of supplying water from STP would become unfeasible to cater the new projects that are coming in Sectors beyond 58. "This is unfortunate that DTCP keeps issuing new licences to builders for new projects. There is complete lack of vision to understand about water needs for the massive construction that would come in future," said Raman Sharma, president, Progressive Gurgaon Forum. At present, HUDA is providing treated water from two Sewage T...

MUMBAI: Indain Railway Catering and Tourism corporation (IRCTC) will set-up its biggest Railneer Plant in Ambernath near Mumbai. It will be able to produce around 2 lakh bottles of one litre capacity per day. Railneer is the brand name of the packaged drinking water (PDW) produced by IRCTC, the subsidiary of Indian Railways. Rail Neer is manufactured as per BIS standard IS: 14543. It is supplied in trains and at railway stations. Pradip Kundu, Joint General Manager, Public Relations, IRCTC said, "Presently there is no plant in Western India. Hence, Railneer is not available in the trains or at stations in this part of the country. To meet the demand of Railneer in western part of country the plant at Ambernath will play a big role." At present, IRCTC is able to generate 4.1 Lakhs bottles every day in its 3 plants in different parts of the country.The plant at Ambernath will be built at a cost of Rs 10 crore. The work on installation of machine will start in Oct 2013 and plan...

VADODARA: Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) will take up work of sprucing up 14 ponds in the city. Most of these ponds are in a sorry state and need desperate attention with repeated attempt so far failing. The city has a string of ponds which have historically been seen as its unique feature. But apathy over the years has ensured that 13 such ponds have disappear from the face of the city even as others got polluted. The VMC administration has now identified 14 ponds that it will develop over a period of time. Officials said that the public-private partnership mode would be examined for the purpose. An executive engineer of the civic body has been given the responsibility of sprucing up the ponds. The ponds that have been selected for development include Harni pond, Bapod pond, Gorwa pond, Kamlanagar pond, Chhani pond, Siddhnath pond, Danteshwar pond, Motnath pond, the pond behind Sardar School, Gotri pond, Sama pond, Maghadev pond, Tarsali pond as well as Sursagar. VMC officials ...

VADODARA: Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) will take up work of sprucing up 14 ponds in the city. Most of these ponds are in a sorry state and need desperate attention with repeated attempt so far failing. The city has a string of ponds which have historically been seen as its unique feature. But apathy over the years has ensured that 13 such ponds have disappear from the face of the city even as others got polluted. The VMC administration has now identified 14 ponds that it will develop over a period of time. Officials said that the public-private partnership mode would be examined for the purpose. An executive engineer of the civic body has been given the responsibility of sprucing up the ponds. The ponds that have been selected for development include Harni pond, Bapod pond, Gorwa pond, Kamlanagar pond, Chhani pond, Siddhnath pond, Danteshwar pond, Motnath pond, the pond behind Sardar School, Gotri pond, Sama pond, Maghadev pond, Tarsali pond as well as Sursagar. VMC officials ...

KARWAR: An incident of eve-teasing involving a girl and boy from different communities a few months ago has resulted in the social boycott of 30 families in Gabithawada in Majali village of Karwar. While most facing the boycott are from the Bhandari community, a few are from the Gabith community. The police and district administration failed to hammer out a solution except for holding a peace meet between the two groups, people alleged. "For the past six months, we've been facing a social boycott in the area," said Raju Kolambkar, a grocery store owner. "A few months ago, the Bhandaris and Gabiths in the area clashed over an eve-teasing incident. Though efforts were made to sort out the problem, it was given a casteist colour. Gabithawada area is dominated by the fisherfolk Gabith community. The eve-teasing led to an attack on the brother of the eve-teaser," he added. Raju, a Gabith, said they still follow their old customs and have to abide by the decision of ...

MYSORE: The floodwater released from Kabini dam has crossed over to Tamil Nadu even as the outflow from the reservoir near Mysore has cut down sharply. After releasing huge quantity of water for over a week to the river, the dam's four crest gates were shut on Saturday morning, following a sharp decline in inflow. The water level is 2,278.50 feet. The dam is receiving 10,000 cusecs and the outflow is put at 2,000 cusecs. The outflow, which was 35,000 cusecs since Thursday, was reduced at 11am on Saturday. "We had released water to manage flood situation. Now that the inflow has come down, the outflow has been reduced," a senior official in the water resources department told STOI. This comes a day ahead of Kabini Raitha Hitarakshana Samiti offering puja to river Kapila at Kabini dam. The committee, headed by Kurbur Shantakumar, will offer bagina (sacred offerings) to the river at the dam site. Sources said water released from Kabini has started to flow into Tamil Nadu. T...

MYSORE: After financial self-reliance, the century-old Mysore Zoo is inching closer to becoming self-reliant in sourcing water. Under one of the 11 projects under JnNURM scheme, the zoo is renovating three ponds in its premises with a view to recharge groundwater. Earlier, MCC used to supply about 1 lakh litre of Cauvery water to the zoo through a separate pipeline. But now, the zoo has been receiving less than 50,000 liters per day from MCC. For the rest, the zoo sources water from Karanji Lake and borewells. The zoo, at times, fails to get the required 7-8 lakh litre of water which is needed to meet the demands of animals and to maintain the garden. To address the problem, the zoo authorities have gone in for recharging groundwater by rainwater harvesting and water conservation. A huge amount of excess water from the lake was going into storm water drain, passing through the zoo premises. The water was going waste in the absence of proper water conservation system. By rejuvenating t...

NEW DELHI: Hitting out at BJP for making allegations that the CBI was being misused to frame Narendra Modi in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, Congress on Saturday asked that if the opposition party was "clean", why was it afraid of the probe. "People, who are not guilty ... should not be worried ... If they (BJP) are clean, why are they afraid of probe? Why do they expect that law should not take its course?" Congress spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das said. "Unless and until the highest court convicts a person, you cannot say that the person is guilty," Das added. He was responding to questions on the BJP's charge that the Congress was trying to frame Modi. "Congress has a pathological hatred against Narendra Modi even though people adore him for impeccable integrity and outstanding record of governance. In spite of repeated defeats in elections, the CBI is being abused as an instrument to frame him on questionable, collusive and spurious test...

CHANDIGARH: The sudden rain on Saturday led to waterlogging around roundabouts, internal and outer roads of the city and low-line areas. Areas around roundabouts on crucial roads like Madhya Marg, Jan Marg and Himalaya Marg were affected. It took half an hour to drain the water. Besides, both residential and commercial areas of sectors 37, 38, 45, 46, 48, 19, 7 and 9 were also waterlogged. The southern sectors were the worst affected. "I was on the way to my relative's house in Manimajra but my two-wheeler got stuck in the water near Matka Chowk," said Amit Kumar, a resident of Sector 15. Earlier, the MC authority had boasted that they had cleaned road gullies and drainage in the city and simultaneously constituted various teams, who would be present throughout the city during the rainy season. But the rain has belied the claims. Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Flooded-roads-make-rain-a-pain/articleshow/20838871.cms

MANGALORE: The goodies keep coming out of the bag of minister for health and family welfare U T Khader. Just days after announcing providing free denture sets to senior citizens, Khader on Saturday said the government's plan of conducting free blood pressure and diabetes screening camps. Khader told reporters here that many people are not aware of the importance of diabetes and blood pressure screening. The government is planning to conduct free diabetes and BP check-up camps once in a year for everybody, he said. He also disclosed that for economically backward people, the government is also thinking of setting up cancer detection centres at taluk level. On the issue of burying of endosulfan in Nettanige Mudnoor village in Puttur taluk and the chances of ground water in the area getting contaminated, Khader said: "We have deep-rooted suspicion that expired endosulfan has been buried at Nettanige Mudnoor on the Karnataka-Kerala border." Stating that he visited the spot o...

THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The state pollution control board received around 200 suggestions and comments, a majority of them supporting the proposed Vizhinjam international seaport, during a public hearing conducted at Vizhinjam on Saturday. Various citizen groups, members from fishing community, political representatives, activists, naval officials and project-affected stakeholders presented their views and concerns about the project. The mandatory public hearing was held as part of procuring the environmental clearance from the union ministry of environment and forest for the project. A section of the fishing community expressed their concerns on the loss of livelihood and blockage of access to enter the seaway where the proposed project is coming up. "We feel there are some issues that need to be addressed in the final environment impact assessment (EIA) report. There are also concerns on the impact of beaches and reclaiming land using sea-sand," Kerala Swathanthra Matsya Thozhi...

SHIMLA: About 90% cash crops, especially apple, has been damaged in the rain-ravaged Kinnaur district, even as government has para-dropped horticulture experts in the region to help restore damaged apple trees and bring them to original shape and size, using various horticulture techniques. The damage caused to public and private property was initially estimated at over Rs 2,500 crore, but now the government has said that the actual loss could be much higher. With apple crop damaged, Kinnaur residents have suffered huge losses, it being the major source of their income, while consumers of metropolitan cities will miss the popular apple varieties of snowbound tribal district during the current apple season, sources said. It was for the first time in the history of Kinnaur district that the area experienced snowfall in June. The entire area experienced heavy snowfall and rainfall continuously for 72 hours from June 15 to 17. Chief minister Virbhadra Singh said that detailed estimate of ...

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala water authority (KWA) gave a much needed relief to the city, which was blighted by pipe bursts, by plugging two leaks on Friday. KWA, which began plugging leaks in a pipe at Ambalamukku, also managed to rectify the leak reported at Paruthippara too. Meanwhile, the pipe maintenance work at Sasthamanagalam was started on Saturday night. KWA was waiting for a PWD nod for road cutting to plug the leak at Paruthippara. The work was scheduled for Saturday night. However, with receiving the sanction on Friday itself, the maintenance work was done simultaneously with the work at Ambalamukku. A major leak was reported in the 400 mm diameter cast iron pipe at Ambalamukku-Vayalikkada road on Friday morning. The water authority completed the maintenance work by around 11.30am and the supply was normalized by 2pm. The 400 mm primo pipe at Paruthipara has been leaking for the past several days. "We were waiting for permission from PWD for road cutting. When we go...

DEHRADUN/NEW DELHI: With skies clearing, rescue of stranded people and relief operations intensified today in Uttarakhand where the death toll in the rain and floods shot up to 150 as thousands of pilgrims still remained stranded. Reports today suggested that the famous Kedarnath shrine, where 50 people died in the landslide that accompanied torrential rain and flash floods, is intact notwithstanding the heavy damage all around. With rains ceasing in the last two days, there were no fresh incidents of landslides and flooding. Accompanied by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made an aerial survey of the worst-hit areas while Union home secretary RK Singh also undertook a similar mission separately. Uttarakhand principal secretary Om Prakash said the death toll in the state has gone up to 150 but was not in a position to give the exact estimate since several villages in Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts in the upper reaches were still under water. Chief mini...

WASHINGTON: Global warming could lead to more extreme droughts in large parts of India, resulting in widespread food shortages and hardship in the country, in the next few decades, a new World Bank report warned today. The impact of a possible global temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius in the next few decades threatens to trap millions of people in poverty, according to the report. The soaring temperatures will also drive regular food shortages in Sub-Saharan Africa. Shifting rain patterns in South Asia due to warming could leave some parts under water and others without enough water for power generation, irrigation, or drinking, the report said. "Events like the devastating Pakistan floods of 2010, which affected more than 20 million people, could become common place. More extreme droughts in large parts of India could lead to widespread food shortages and hardship," the report said. Another impact of climate change could be degradation and loss of reefs in South East Asi...

TOKYO: High levels of a toxic substance called strontium-90 have been found in groundwater at the devastated Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, the utility that runs the facility said on Wednesday. Strontium-90 is a by-product of the fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear reactors as well as nuclear weapons, the US Environmental Protection Agency says on its website. The discovery of rising levels of such radioactive material is likely to complicate efforts by the utility, Tokyo Electric Power Co, to get approval to release into the Pacific Ocean what it calls water contaminated with low levels of radiation. "This contaminated water should not be released to the ocean," said Michiaki Furukawa, a nuclear chemist and professor emeritus at Nagoya University. "They have to keep it somewhere so that it can't escape outside the plant." Tepco is being overwhelmed with contaminated liquids as it flushes water over the three reactors at the seaside plant that ...

LUCKNOW: In a bid to intensify rescue and relief operations in Uttarakhand, which has been hit by severe floods, the Army has deployed more than 5,600 jawans and officers to aid the state government in its efforts. As per the latest reports received on Tuesday evening, under operation Ganga, the Army has been able to evacuate 1,150 persons from Harsil area; 6,000 from Joshimath and 700 from Tawaghat area. Speaking to reporters, Lieutenant General Anil Chait, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command, said, "More than 5,600 Army personnel including jawans and officers have spread out across the districts of Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand and Saharanpur, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar and Pilibhit districts of Uttar Pradesh to aid the civilians and pilgrims. Army assistance centres have been made operational at Harsil, Rudraprayag, Joshimath, Mana, Gagriya, Govindghat and Dharchula to provide shelter, food, first aid and drinking water to scores of...

LUCKNOW: The RashtriyaLokDal (RLD) on Tuesday accused the Samajwadi Party government of callousness in dealing with the floods which threaten to disrupt normal life in west UP. Speaking to reporters, RLD state president Munna Singh Chauhan said the state government did not make early preparations to deal with the crisis. "Hundreds of villages in west UP have already been flooded while many others are on the verge of being affected by raging rivers," Chauhan said. He said the floods have mainly affected crops like mentha (peppermint) which has resulted in heavy losses to the farmers in the region. Chauhan demanded that state government should provide adequate compensation to the farmers affected by the floods. tnnAlso, the government should waive off loans given to the farmers, he added. The party said that waters will be released from Uttarakhand and Nepal only to flood the rivers in UP. Chauhan said the state government should take immediate steps to evacuate the villagers ...

LUCKNOW: Train traffic was significantly affected due to rains in the state, causing inconvenience to the passengers on Tuesday. While several trains were running late, a couple had to be cancelled as the tracks were immersed in water. Railway officials and staff had to put in extra effort to manage the rush of passengers. Officials in the Norther Railway division of Indian Railways stated that the Muzaffarpur-Ambala special train and Banaras-Chandigarh express were cancelled near Saharapur due to zero visibility of the tracks. The passengers were brought back to Lucknow and alternate arrangements had to be made to help the passengers reach their destination. Passengers alleged that they were left to fend for themselves. Some of them stated that announcements were not being made properly. Many passengers were stuck inside the trains when it stopped on the track waiting for rain to stop and visibility to be restored. The Lokmanya Mumbai Lucknow express, for instance was running late by...

LUCKNOW: Chaos prevailed at the venue in Mahoba where chief minister AkhileshYadav gave away laptops to students on Tuesday, when a section of the makeshift tent under which the event was held, gave way due to heavy rains. A mad scramble ensued as students virtually stepped on one-another to secure the brand new laptops from rain water. The saving grace for the organisers was that all this took place only after the chief minister had left the venue. Reports said on Monday as well, a section of the pandal had collapsed and the entire venue was virtually flooded with rain water after the tent piece serving as the roof of the pandal, failed to keep away the rain water from entering the audience gallery. Though district authorities claimed the pandal was waterproof, allegations are that the structure failed to keep the rainwater away. Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Rain-leads-to-chaos-at-Akhilesh-Yadavs-programme/articleshow/20658387.cms

PUNE: The body of a 20-year-old youth from Pune, who was washed away in a waterfall in Lonavla on Monday, was pulled out of the Bhushi reservoir on Tuesday afternoon. The Lonavla city police said the deceased, Krishna Virendra Vishwakarma of Yerawada, was a carpenter. Police said that on Monday afternoon, Vishwakarma and his three friends visited Lonavla to enjoy the rain. They entered the Bhushi reservoir around 3 pm and later went to a waterfall near the dam. Police said that while they were under the waterfall, Vishwakarma lost his balance and was swept away into the reservoir. His friends and local residents searched for him in the water, but Vishwakarma could not be traced till late Monday night. The search operation resumed on Tuesday morning and Vishwakarma's body was found around 1.30 pm. The body has been sent for post mortem, police said. This is the second drowning case at Bhushi dam in the last 10 days. On June 9, 22-year-old Nakul Subhash Bagait of Vimannagar had also...

PUNE: The irrigation department has given an in-principle nod to give 100 MLD (million litres per day) water to PimpriChinchwad from Andra dam built across a tributary of Indrayani river. The civic body will construct a raw water treatment plant. The civic administration has prepared a proposal stating that water can be drawn from Indrayani river in Chikhli-Talawade area by constructing a Kolhapur type weir. The water treatment plant is proposed to be constructed on a plot measuring 15.61 hectare which is reserved as government grazing land. The civic body has sought the transfer. The civic body will invite suggestions and objections from citizens regarding change in land use and send the proposal to the state government for a final approval. Pravin Ladkat, executive engineer of the PCMC water supply department, said, "The state irrigation department agreed in-principle to give 100 MLD water from Andra dam to the corporation. We expect the state government to give its final appro...

PUNE: The Archaeological Survey of India, Mumbai circle, has received Rs 2.75 crore for monument restoration in the current fiscal - a rise of Rs 75 lakh from last year. However, officials said the funds are not sufficient as there is much to be done at monuments in this circle. The original estimate for this year was pegged at Rs 6 crore for projects including restoration of Murud-Janjira fort, conservation and repairs of gates and pathways at Shivneri fort, as well as other works at Panhala fort, Shelarwadi caves, Elephanta caves, Jijamata Wada at Pachad, Solapur fort and Vijaydurg fort, among others. A senior official from ASI said that other monuments up for revamp this year include Dilawar Khan's tomb and caves of Shelarwadi in Pune district, Buddhist caves at Pohale and Panhala fort in Kolhapur district, Mandapeshwar caves, Jogeshwari caves and Kanheri caves in Mumbai, the Solapur fort, Vasai fort and Sindhudurg fort. "The Rs 2.75 crore budget for this year is very less...

DEHRADUN/SHIMLA: Torrential rains continued to pour in bad news from north India on Tuesday, with flash floods, cloudbursts and landslips claiming 69 more lives and taking the official death toll to 131, making for the most tragic tidings of monsoon in recent years. More than 73,000 pilgrims bound for the Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri remained stranded in Uttarakhand and about 1,700 tourists were stuck in Himachal Pradesh. The rains left 102 people dead in Uttarakhand, almost as many injured, and smashed hundreds of houses. The remaining deaths were reported from Himachal Pradesh. Based on reports from volunteers on the pilgrim route, the VHP said the toll could be in thousands. Its statement said bodies were strewn around the Kedarnath temple and Gauri Kund, from where the trek to Kedarnath commences, had been washed away. The worst-hit was Rudraprayag where 20 people drowned and 73 buildings, including 40 hotels along the banks of Alaknanda, were ...

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PUNE: Stung into action after the Shindewadi mishap where a woman and her daughter were swept away by rainwater gushing down the hills in Katraj area, the district administration is planning several steps to restrict encroachments along the roads and hill tops around the city. District collector Vikas Deshmukh on Tuesday said that revenue officials have been asked to stop illegal constructions on hill tops and slopes and issue immediate notices to offenders. The administration will coordinate with the police to expedite inquiries in cases related to fake land dealings and frauds. He has appealed to the citizens to register complaints with the police related to land frauds. "Officials have been asked to prepare a list of illegal structures and encroachments. Orders have been issued to remove all under-construction illegal structures on hill tops and slopes," said Deshmukh. He said all illegal structures in Shindewadi area have been removed and the nulhas and water streams cle...

NEW DELHI: The Yamuna, which has been reduced to being just a drain, transforms during the rains into a raging, menacing river. 1978 | The Yamuna touched 207.49m on September 5 after 7 lakh cusec water was released upstream. Large parts of west, north and east Delhi, including Shalimar Bagh, Model Town and Mukherjee Nagar, were under 4-5 feet of water. It remains Delhi's worst flood to date. 1988 | Continuous torrential rain in the hills from September 21 raised the Yamuna's level from to 206.92m at the Old Railway Bridge. Many areas in east and north Delhi, including Mukherjee Nagar, Geeta Colony, Yamuna Bazaar and Red Fort were affected. 1995 | In Sept, river touched 206.93m. While release from Tajewala was massive, Delhi didn't let out water from Okhla barrage fast enough. Around 15,000 families lived in temporary shelters on main road for two months 2010 | Towards the end of September, the Yamuna rose to 207.11m and stayed at that level for eight hours. Areas like Kash...

HYDERABAD: Apart from the regular civic woes that accompany monsoon showers, the residents of Bowenpally have a lot more to worry about their safety, thanks to unfinished project work taken up by the electricity department. To lay underground power cables, the electricity department had dug up about four large trenches, up to 10 feet high, along the Diamond Point and Sikh Road stretch. However the work has remained unfinished since the last four months thus causing a lot of inconvenience to residents as well as commuters. "I am keeping my shop closed most of the time because of these uncovered trenches," said P Sairam, a stationery shop owner in the area. "There is so much of dust that comes in to my shop that I have to clean it on an hourly basis. It has also affected my business badly as there are hardly any customers visiting my store because of this mess and also due to parking issues," he said. "Following the recent rains, the whole place has become very ...

NEW DELHI: Screams from a partially submerged hut pierced the air, stunning hundreds of spectators gathered at what is called the Sonia Vihar Pushta II, not far from the Wazirabad bridge. The crowd failed to react. Police were missing from the scene. There were no signs displaying a helpline or control room number. A lone boat anchored below had a boatman but no safety gear. As the waters continued to rise, it took the authorities more than an hour to carry out the rescue. Finally, four dogs tied to a tree near a hut were set free, but the big question remains: what if there were people inside? As the city braces for its worst flood, the preparedness of various agencies and coordination between them seems weak. At the waterfront on Tuesday, the crowd of spectators was a worrying sight. There were no barricades to prevent people from going down the steep slope, although police are supposed to ensure that people stay away from the embankments. Setting the rescue apparatus into motion te...