News Analysis India

Tag: SDRF

  • Building collapses at Helang near Joshimath; Three rescued, some feared trapped

    By PTI

    GOPESHWAR: Three people were rescued and a few others are feared trapped under debris after a building collapsed on Tuesday at Helang near subsidence-hit Joshimath in Chamoli district, officials said.

    Additional Information Officer of the district Ravindra Negi said those rescued were rushed to a hospital while State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel were trying to safely bring out the others trapped in the building.

    Reportedly four people are feared trapped inside the building but it is yet to be confirmed by officials.

    The incident occurred in Helang village on the Badrinath highway between Pipalkoti and Joshimath late Tuesday evening.

    According to information received, the two-storey house was built near a crusher unit on the banks of the Alaknanda River.

    People working in the crusher unit were living in the building which collapsed.

    Earlier this year, several houses in Joshimath were damaged due to land subsidence and since the onset of the monsoon, the problem has aggravated.

    GOPESHWAR: Three people were rescued and a few others are feared trapped under debris after a building collapsed on Tuesday at Helang near subsidence-hit Joshimath in Chamoli district, officials said.

    Additional Information Officer of the district Ravindra Negi said those rescued were rushed to a hospital while State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel were trying to safely bring out the others trapped in the building.

    Reportedly four people are feared trapped inside the building but it is yet to be confirmed by officials.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The incident occurred in Helang village on the Badrinath highway between Pipalkoti and Joshimath late Tuesday evening.

    According to information received, the two-storey house was built near a crusher unit on the banks of the Alaknanda River.

    People working in the crusher unit were living in the building which collapsed.

    Earlier this year, several houses in Joshimath were damaged due to land subsidence and since the onset of the monsoon, the problem has aggravated.

  • Rain fury brings life to a halt in several parts of MP, including state capital Bhopal

    Express News Service

    BHOPAL: Unprecedentedly heavy rains accompanied by blustery winds followed by flash floods over the last two and half days have cast their shadow on a large part of Madhya Pradesh, including capital Bhopal, which witnessed the fiercest rain in the last 24-48 hours since 2016.

    Over 400 people have been rescued by the SDRF and NDRF teams from various flood-hit areas in parts of Vidisha, Rajgarh, Ashok Nagar, Raisen, Jabalpur, Mandla, Sidhi, and Guna districts, where heavy rains have put all major rivers in spate and most dams are either overflowing or replete with water, forcing the opening of their gates to release excess water.

    The state capital Bhopal, which has been reporting rain since the last 54 hours, witnessed the fiercest rain in the last 24-36 hours. The capital city reported 7.5-inch rain in the last 24 hours, which was the heaviest since the deadly rain of 2016.

    Along with rains, the blustery winds blowing at a speed of 33-34 kmph have brought the temperatures down drastically.

    Heavy rains and flooding of ponds and lakes, besides dams, have submerged over 200 residential localities of Bhopal, a large part of which is in the dark due to continued electricity shut down and faults in around 50 residential localities. The Misrod area of the city, particularly, is facing a flood-like situation. Dozens of trees have been uprooted all across the city, which is already on high-security alert owing to the day-long presence of union home minister Amit Shah for a slew of major events.

    In Bhopal, a young motorbike rider was killed after coming in contact with an uprooting tree near Tarun Pushkar.

    Owing to extremely bad weather conditions, the closure of schools in Bhopal, Sehore, Rajgarh, Vidisha, Raisen and Sagar districts has been extended for Tuesday also.

    All major rivers in central MP, Mahakoshal and west MP are in spate, with the mighty river Narmada likely to cross the danger mark by midnight.

    As per reports, prolonged rains which are likely to continue on Tuesday also, have badly affected life in around 27 districts of Bhopal, Narmadapuram, Gwalior and Jabalpur divisions.

    In Vidisha, a stop dam built just a year back in Islam Nagar area of Lateri block developed major breach, resulting in massive release of water through the crops in 10-12 adjoining villages. In the same central MP district’s Basoda area, the district administration has sought urgent help from the Indian Air Force (IAF) to airlift over 100 villagers, taking shelter on terraces of houses owing to flash floods.

    In Guna district of Gwalior region, three villagers remained stuck on an island owing to flash floods in the Pipliya village of Bamori area.

    In the adjoining Ashok Nagar district, five people on the way from Bhopal to Ashok Nagar were swept away in a flooded nullah. While three of them swam to safety and spent their night on trees, two others, including a newly elected village sarpanch are missing.   

    Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has sounded red alert of extremely heavy rains in districts of Ujjain and Indore divisions, as well as Rajgarh districts in the next 24 hours, orange alert of heavy to very rains in districts of Gwalior and Narmadapuram divisions as well as Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore and Bhopal districts. A yellow alert has been sounded in Jabalpur and Sagar districts as well as districts of Chambal division over the same period.

    BHOPAL: Unprecedentedly heavy rains accompanied by blustery winds followed by flash floods over the last two and half days have cast their shadow on a large part of Madhya Pradesh, including capital Bhopal, which witnessed the fiercest rain in the last 24-48 hours since 2016.

    Over 400 people have been rescued by the SDRF and NDRF teams from various flood-hit areas in parts of Vidisha, Rajgarh, Ashok Nagar, Raisen, Jabalpur, Mandla, Sidhi, and Guna districts, where heavy rains have put all major rivers in spate and most dams are either overflowing or replete with water, forcing the opening of their gates to release excess water.

    The state capital Bhopal, which has been reporting rain since the last 54 hours, witnessed the fiercest rain in the last 24-36 hours. The capital city reported 7.5-inch rain in the last 24 hours, which was the heaviest since the deadly rain of 2016.

    Along with rains, the blustery winds blowing at a speed of 33-34 kmph have brought the temperatures down drastically.

    Heavy rains and flooding of ponds and lakes, besides dams, have submerged over 200 residential localities of Bhopal, a large part of which is in the dark due to continued electricity shut down and faults in around 50 residential localities. The Misrod area of the city, particularly, is facing a flood-like situation. Dozens of trees have been uprooted all across the city, which is already on high-security alert owing to the day-long presence of union home minister Amit Shah for a slew of major events.

    In Bhopal, a young motorbike rider was killed after coming in contact with an uprooting tree near Tarun Pushkar.

    Owing to extremely bad weather conditions, the closure of schools in Bhopal, Sehore, Rajgarh, Vidisha, Raisen and Sagar districts has been extended for Tuesday also.

    All major rivers in central MP, Mahakoshal and west MP are in spate, with the mighty river Narmada likely to cross the danger mark by midnight.

    As per reports, prolonged rains which are likely to continue on Tuesday also, have badly affected life in around 27 districts of Bhopal, Narmadapuram, Gwalior and Jabalpur divisions.

    In Vidisha, a stop dam built just a year back in Islam Nagar area of Lateri block developed major breach, resulting in massive release of water through the crops in 10-12 adjoining villages. In the same central MP district’s Basoda area, the district administration has sought urgent help from the Indian Air Force (IAF) to airlift over 100 villagers, taking shelter on terraces of houses owing to flash floods.

    In Guna district of Gwalior region, three villagers remained stuck on an island owing to flash floods in the Pipliya village of Bamori area.

    In the adjoining Ashok Nagar district, five people on the way from Bhopal to Ashok Nagar were swept away in a flooded nullah. While three of them swam to safety and spent their night on trees, two others, including a newly elected village sarpanch are missing.   

    Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has sounded red alert of extremely heavy rains in districts of Ujjain and Indore divisions, as well as Rajgarh districts in the next 24 hours, orange alert of heavy to very rains in districts of Gwalior and Narmadapuram divisions as well as Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore and Bhopal districts. A yellow alert has been sounded in Jabalpur and Sagar districts as well as districts of Chambal division over the same period.

  • Agencies have changed history of disaster management in country: Amit Shah

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: National Disaster Management Authority, along with implementing agencies State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) have worked to change the history of disaster management of the country in 17 years, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday.

    Addressing the 17th foundation day celebrations of the National Disaster Management Authority, the Minister said the disaster management authority has worked to link the sensitivity of the entire country with disaster management.

    On the occasion, the Home Minister also announced the extension of the Centrally sponsored Aapda Mitra community volunteer programme across 350 disaster-prone districts across the country. “If the disaster has to be responded to in a few seconds, then only the local public can do it, only Aapda Mitra community volunteer can do it from village to village. The concept of Aapda Mitra is very good, it is necessary to prepare the public for disaster,” said Shah.

    Shah informed that the Aapda Mitra scheme has already been launched on a pilot basis in 30 flood-prone districts in 25 states. “5500 Aapda Mitras and Aapda Sakhis have been added to this. Now we are going to implement Aapda Mitra Yojana in 350 districts affected by the disaster,” he added.

    The Minister further informed that government will provide the insurance coverage of all community volunteers in disaster response (Aapda Mitra) connected with NDMA.

  • IAF helicopter airlifts stuck Madhya Pradesh home minister from flood-hit Datia, Congress unhappy

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra was among those airlifted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters in flood-hit Datia district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.

    The incident kicked up a political row in the state with the opposition Congress dubbing the development as an unwanted attempt by the home minister to become “Spiderman.” The Congress also termed the entire act as dangerous for the minister’s safety, besides amounting to misutilization of the resources, which should ideally be used only to rescue stranded commoners, who unnecessarily joined the rescue operations.

    The incident happened in Kotra village of Datia district of state’s Gwalior-Chambal region. Mishra, who is also the local BJP MLA from Datia, had conducted an aerial survey and also embarked on SDRF boats on Wednesday to personally supervise efforts in the flood-hit areas of Datia (his assembly constituency) and Gwalior’s Dabra (his former constituency).

    Coming to know about around nine villagers being stuck atop the village panchayat building since Tuesday night, the home minister travelled by the SDRF boat to the spot in Kotra village — around 30 km from Datia district headquarters.

    According to official sources associated with the home minister, on reaching the concerned building, the SDRF boat ferried by the minister got stuck in the floodwaters owing to a tree collapse, making its return with many people difficult.

    Subsequently, one of the IAF helicopters already engaged in rescue operations was flown to rescue the villagers as well as the minister. The IAF helicopter flew to the Kotra village and airlifted the stranded villagers, the home minister and security staff accompanying him.

    The opposition Congress’ state media cell vice-president Bhupendra Gupta, meanwhile, questioned entire act. “It’s the NDRF and SDRF which conduct rescue operations on ground, while the ministers should only supervise the operations. What was the need for the minister to go there and attempt becoming Spiderman. Such acts are inappropriate for a minister’s safety and also amount to misutilization of resources. Such acts will give birth to dangerous tradition,” Gupta said.   

  • Preparations begin before the rainy season, SDRF jawans deal with disaster, rehearsal

    SDRF Raipur rehearsed to deal with disaster like flood before rainy season. A diving scuba exercise of approximately 2 hours, 20 to 25 feet depth of position with underwater camera, and swimming skills were practiced. SDRF incharge Anima S. Kujur said that the exercise of flood disaster, rescue work was started as per the orders of the Director General of Municipal Army, Fire Emergency Services and SDRF. This type of exercise will be done every 15 days. In this episode, 40 SDRF personnel participated in the first rehearsal at Jhanjh reservoir in Nava Raipur. In this exercise, 6 fiber motor boats, 2 rubber motor boats and 1 aluminum boat were mockdill with OBM. It is noteworthy that in the flood disaster of the year 2020, a total of 370 people were rescued by SDR F personnel in district Mungeli, Balodabazar, Bemetra and Parasulidih, Saddu and Birgaon etc. of Raipur district. In addition to flood disaster rescue work on behalf of SDRF personnel, rescue work is also done in natural and man-made disasters like arson, cyclone, earthquake.

  • Bodies in Ganga river: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath orders patrolling by SDRF, PAC

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: In a bid to stop people from disposing of bodies in rivers, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday ordered patrolling by the SDRF and PAC.

    The CM’s directions have come as a number of bodies were found floating in the Ganga recently, triggering suspicion that the abandoned corpses could be those of COVID-19 patients.

    The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) should patrol rivers and ensure that no bodies are disposed of in rivers, the CM ordered, according to a statement issued here.

    He said in areas on banks of rivers, committees including village development officers and village heads should be formed to ensure that no one dumps bodies in rivers.

    “All those who died deserve cremation with respect. The state government has already sanctioned funds for performing the last rites,” the CM said.

    ALSO READ | COVID horror: More bodies found floating, shallow graves along banks of Ganga in UP

    “No one should be allowed to dispose of bodies in rivers due to religious traditions,” the CM added, stressing that if need be, a fine may be imposed at the local level to prevent it.

    “The rivers get polluted due to bodies of human beings and animals. The government is also running a special campaign for the cleaning of rivers. Home, urban and rural development departments should make a policy to prevent it,” he added.

    The government has been under fire from the opposition over the issue recently.

    Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday demanded a judicial probe headed by High Court judge into it, saying what is happening is inhuman and criminal.

    Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav too had said the UP government must be held accountable for “failing” its people badly.

    “Bodies found floating in the Ganga are not statistics, they’re someone’s father, mother, brother and sister. What has transpired shakes you to your core.” He had said.

  • Four-year-old boy rescued from borewell in Rajasthan’s Jalore 16 hours after he fell into it

    By PTI
    JODHPUR: A four-year-old boy was rescued from a nearly 90-foot-deep open borewell in a village in Rajasthan’s Jalore district on Friday, around 16 hours after he fell into it while playing, police said.

    The child, identified as Anil Dewasi, had fallen into the freshly dug borewell in Lachhri village on Thursday afternoon, they said.

    He was rescued around 4.30 am on Friday, police said.

    “The administration had roped in a local man, Madharam Suthar from Bhinmal, who used a special loop type tool devised by him to rescue the boy,” an official said.

    The official said Suthar has in the past used the technique to take out motors stuck in borewells.

    The local administration and police had launched a rescue operation with the help of the teams of NDRF and SDRF.

    “But when no result was achieved, some villagers suggested that Suthar, who has a special tool that can be helpful in such rescue operations, be called in,” an the official said.

    Station House Office (SHO), Sanchore, Praveen Kumar Acharya said the child had stuck at a depth of about 90 feet in the borewell.

    The SHO said oxygen was pumped into the borewell using a pipe to avoid the risk of suffocation and some food was also dropped inside for the child.

    The teams were constantly communicating with the boy to prevent him from falling asleep, the SHO said.

    According to Acharya, the borewell was dug just three days back in a farm owned by the child’s father, Nagaram Dewasi.

    The borewell had a cover, but the boy removed it while playing on Thursday afternoon, the police officer said.

    He then tried to take a peek but slipped and fell inside, the SHO added.

    A worker saw it and raised an alarm, following which villagers informed the administration.

  • Heavy snowfall declared as state-specific natural calamity under SDRF in Jammu and Kashmir

    By PTI
    JAMMU: Extending much needed relief to the people of snowbound areas, Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday declared ‘heavy snowfall’ as state specific natural calamity under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norms.

    The Lt Governor was chairing a meeting to take stock of the winter management, particularly, snow clearance efforts of the administration, with all deputy commissioners and senior superintendents of police of Kashmir Division through virtual mode, at the Raj Bhavan here, an official spokesperson said.

    ‘Heavy Snowfall’ did not figure in the list of ‘natural calamities’ under SDRF norms, due to which disbursement of relief and ex-gratia for the damages due to heavy snowfall was not possible for the Districts’ Disaster Management Authorities.

    Now, processing of ex-gratia relief under SDRF will become faster, thereby giving huge relief to the affected people living in snowbound areas, the spokesperson said.

    He said the Lt Governor sought a detailed report on issues and problems faced by the people due to heavy snowfall and future course of action of the administration at all levels to overcome the challenges thereof.

    On being apprised about the shortage of small rescue vehicles for the movement of people requiring medical assistance, particularly, in remote areas and areas having narrow lanes, Sinha directed that 4×4 rescue vehicles and ambulances be provided to snow affected districts with immediate effect for helping the people in distress.

    The Lt Governor asked the officers to be more sensitive and responsive to the issues of the public and take requisite measures to minimise the difficulties of common people.

    “Be visible and take early measures. Need more feet on the ground. Quickly reach out to the people to address their needs and requirements,” the Lt Governor asked the officers.

    Sinha lauded the efforts of employees working 24×7 on ground in challenging climatic conditions.

    He directed rationalising deployment of machinery and equipment for snow clearance from the roads, besides making necessary emergency facilities available to render critical help in contingent situations.

    Taking cognizance of media reports, social media posts and grievances received from the public, the Lt Governor asked the administration to identify gaps and take immediate corrective measures to fill the same to redress the concerning issues of the people.

    He also directed the officers to continuously monitor the situation and work in synergy with various departments to avoid any inconvenience to people.

    During the meeting, the Lt Governor took a detailed district wise review of the overall status of the power scenario, snow clearance, road connectivity, water supply, essential supplies, disaster management, food supplies, availability of power buffer stock and other issues, the spokesperson said.