News Analysis India

Tag: Kerala Floods

  • Rains batter Uttarakhand as 42 more die, Uttar Pradesh sees four fatalities; Kerala dams open gates

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Uttarakhand reported at least 42 rain-related deaths on Tuesday with many people still trapped under the rubble after landslides, while Uttar Pradesh witnessed four fatalities, even as heavy downpour in Kerala filled several dams to the brim and multiple districts were on alert.

    In view of the incessant rains, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reiterated his appeal to Chardham yatris to stay where they are and not to resume their journeys before the weather improved.

    “The number of casualties in Kumaon region alone has crossed 40,” DIG Nilesh Anand Bharne told PTI.

    With 42 new fatalities in the Kumaon region, the death toll in the disaster has risen to 47 as five deaths were reported on Monday.

    Of the 42 fresh deaths, 28 people were killed in Nainital district, six each in Almora and Champawat and one each in Pithoragarh and Udham Singh Nagar districts, the official said.

    ALSO READ: Experts explain what is causing heavy rains that killed dozens in Uttarakhand, Kerala over few days

    The connectivity to Nainital was restored in the evening after hours of struggle amid inclement weather, officials said.

    Chief Minister Dhami undertook an aerial survey of the rain-hit areas and later interacted with the affected people on ground zero to make an assessment of the damages caused.

    He announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in rain-related incidents across the state over the last two days.

    Director General of Uttarakhand Police Ashok Kumar, who accompanied Chief Minister Dhami on a visit to the rain-hit areas of the Kumaon region, said roads, bridges and railway tracks have been damaged in Kathgodam and Lalkuan in Nainital and Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar.

    ALSO READ: Uttarakhand government to give Rs 4 lakh to kin of those killed in rain-related incidents

    It will take at least four-five days to repair the damaged tracks, Kumar told PTI.

    Three Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters have arrived in the state and are assisting in relief and rescue operations.

    Two of them have been deployed in Nainital district, which has suffered extensive damage due to cloudbursts and landslides, Dhami said.

    According to a rough estimate, around 100 pilgrims from different parts of Gujarat who had gone to Uttarakhand for the Chardham Yatra were stranded following heavy rains and landslides, Gujarat Revenue Minister Rajendra Trivedi said.

    The National Disaster Response Force has rescued over 300 people from flood-affected areas of Uttarakhand, the federal force said on Tuesday.

    ALSO READ: Over 300 people rescued from flood-affected Uttarakhand – NDRF

    The NDRF has deployed 15 teams in the state.

    Rainfall was reported from other parts of the country as well including Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, according to the IMD, which forecast an intense spell of rain over east and northeast till Wednesday, and south peninsular region during the next four-five days.

    Authorities in the national capital said Prof Joginder Singh Marg in the western part of the city had been closed after the road caved in.

    A 35-year-old woman and her mother-in-law died in Uttar Pradesh’s Fathepur after a wall of their house collapsed following heavy rains.

    In Bareilly, also in UP, two labourers died of electrocution in Bisalpur road after coming in contact with a solar panel following heavy rains, police said.

    WATCH VIDEO: River washes away under-construction bridge as rains cause havoc in Uttarakhand

    In West Bengal, the Met department said heavy rainfall is very likely to continue till Thursday morning even as the low-pressure system that developed over the Gangetic Basin in the southern part of the state moved to Bihar, parts of which received heavy rains during the day.

    The weatherman warned of extremely heavy rainfall over Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Alipurduar till Wednesday morning and downpour till Thursday over all sub-Himalayan districts.

    The IMD forecast more rain on Wednesday in Odisha, which has already been battered by low-pressure area-induced downpour for the last three days.

    Fishermen were advised not to venture into the Bay of Bengal for the next 48 hours.

    Down south in Kerala, after a relative respite of two days, the IMD Tuesday issued an Orange Alert for 11 districts of Kerala indicating heavy rainfall.

    The weatherman has put 12 districts in the state on Orange alert on Thursday also.

    The IMD sounded an Orange alert for Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur districts on October 20.

    An Orange alert has been issued for all districts other than Kannur and Kasaragod on October 21.

    Idukki, Idamalayar, Pamba and Kakki, four major dams among the total 78 dams in the state have been opened to release the excess water.

    Shutters of Cheruthoni dam, part of the Idukki reservoir in Kerala, were opened on Tuesday to create more storage capacity in anticipation of the heavy rainfall predicted in its catchment area over the next two days.

    Various district administrations have issued alerts to the people living downstream and shifted them to relief camps set up in the state.

    The IMD said a low-pressure area lies over Bihar and neighbourhood.

    Also due to strong southerly/southeasterly winds from Bay of Bengal, a heavy spell of rainfall activity is very likely to continue over east and northeast India till October 20.

  • Experts explain what is causing heavy rains that killed dozens in Uttarakhand, Kerala over few days

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A confluence of cyclonic storms forming in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea is among the biggest reasons behind heavy rains in different parts of the country over the past few days that have claimed dozens of lives in Uttarakhand, Kerala and other states, experts said on Tuesday.

    Climate experts also warn the intensity of rains in Kerala and Uttarakhand is “alarming” and must draw immediate attention towards “climate emergency”.

    “The latest rains in Kerala are a result of a normal climatic event called retreating monsoon that happens every year. However, the intensity of rains there and in Uttarakhand is alarming and must draw our attention to the severity of climate emergency.

    “We have seen a steady rise in the number of adverse climatic events over the past few years and as a tropical country, I believe it is time India takes solid steps to help meet the climate targets as events since the past few years and this trend seems to be getting worsened,” said Kamal Narayan Omer, CEO, Integrated Health and Wellbeing Council (IHW Council).

    Ishteyaque Ahmed, Senior Climate Campaigner, Greenpeace India, said these rains were a consequence of the cyclonic storms from the east and the west and can lead to huge environmental losses and derail food security of the country.

    “Rising oceanic temperatures can strengthen otherwise weak cyclones and make them deadlier than expected. India is facing this crisis from three sides. In the last few days cyclonic storms are continuously forming in the Bay of Bengal as well as in the Arabian Sea.

    “The confluence of such eastern and western storms is among the biggest causes of such disastrous rains in different parts of the country. These untimely erratic rains, responsible for big human and environmental losses can derail the food and nutritional security initiatives of the country, which is already at the brink of a major food and nutrition crisis,” Ahmed said.

    He also said that more such extreme weather events can occur in the future.

    “In a transitional phase, it is next to impossible to predict for the future, but seemingly rising oceanic temperatures and destruction of floral and faunal aquatic lives, more frequent and frightening extreme weather events cannot be ruled out,” he said.

    According to V Vinoj, Assistant Professor, IIT Bhubaneswar, states and the country as whole need to be “climate smart”.

    He suggested specific warning system to be installed to tackle the climate situation better.

    “It is now well-known that anthropogenic climate change will lead to extreme weather patterns. Therefore, it is now imperative that their impacts on life and property are minimised by following locally relevant adaptation measures. In parallel, efforts on mitigation efforts should be hastened so as to slow climate change.

    “A specific warming system taking in to consideration the local vulnerabilities will go a long way in saving lives. In addition, adaptation measures, again taking climate resilience as the central issue will be beneficial in the long run. In summary, our country, states and cities should be climate smart,” he said.

    Incessant rains have claimed at least 28 lives in Uttarakhand in the last two days, razing houses to the ground and leaving many trapped in the debris.

    Nainital was cut off from the rest of the state with three roads leading to the popular tourist spot blocked due to a series of landslides.

    Landslides have blocked the exits in the town and electricity, telecom and internet connectivity in Nainital district was also hit badly.

    The death toll in incidents related to heavy rains, including landslides and flash floods in Kerala rose to 27 on Monday.

    Meanwhile, a red alert has been issued for 11 dams across Kerala as water levels have breached the danger mark in several areas.

    Heavy rains are again expected in the state between October 20 and 24.