28 killed, 22 missing as heavy rains hit north India; Delhi, UP on flood alert

Agencies
August 19, 2019

New Delhi, Aug 19: Heavy rains lashed northern parts, leaving at least 28 people dead and 22 missing in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab on Sunday, while a flood alert was sounded in parts of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Haryana has asked the Army to remain on standby after 8.14 lakh cusec water was released from the Hathini Kund barrage in the Yamuna river.

At least 22 people, including two Nepalese, were killed and nine others injured in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh, while three people died and 22 went missing following a cloudburst in Uttarakhand. Three people lost their lives in Punjab.

In southern India, the death toll in flood-ravaged Kerala climbed to 121 with the retrieval of more bodies. Ground Penetrating Radars were put into use to locate bodies at Kavalappara in Malappuram and Puthumala in Wayanad, where massive landslides had wiped out two villages.

Delhi witnessed rains with the maximum temperature settling at 29.7 degrees Celsius, four notches below the season's average, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 24.8 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average.

As the water level in the Yamuna river neared warning level, the Delhi government sounded a flood alert for the city and asked people living in the low-lying areas to move to safer places as the water level in the Yamuna river is expected to cross the danger mark, officials said.

An official said the Yamuna river was flowing at 203.37 metre on Sunday evening and its water level is expected to rise further in next 24 hours after 8.14 lakh cusec water was released from the Hathini Kund barrage in Harayana at 5 pm.

In Uttar Pradesh, several rivers, including Ganga, Yamuna and Ghaghra, are in spate. Ganga is flowing above the danger mark in Badaun, Garhmukteshwar, Naraura and Farrukhabad. Similarly, the Sharda river at Paliakalan and the Ghaghra river at Elginbridge are flowing above the red mark, the Central Water Commission said.

In Uttarakhand, three people were killed and around 22 went missing as heavy rains lashed the state. Cloudbursts in Mori block of Uttarkashi district wreaked havoc in several villages, damaging several houses in Arakot, Makuri and Tikochi villages. A woman was also washed away in Dehradun district when her car fell into a seasonal river, they said.

Heavy rains remained unabated in Himachal Pradesh, leaving at least 22 people, including two Nepalese, dead and nine others injured in rain-related incidents in the state.

Nine people died in Shimla, five in Solan, two each in Kullu, Sirmaur, Solan and Chamba and one each in Una and Lahaul-Spiti districts. Landslides hit a spot near the RTO office here, leaving three people dead. One person sustained injuries in the incident.

Due to heavy rains, district officials in the state have ordered closure of all educational institutions in Shimla and Kullu on Monday.

Gates of the Pandoh and the Nathpa Jhakri dams in Himachal Pradesh are being opened as the water level in the Beas and Sutlej rivers is very high. People have been requested to stay away from rivers, rivulets and streams to avoid any untoward incident, officials said.

Train services between Shimla and Kalka were disrupted on Sunday after multiple landslides blocked the rail route in the state.

Heavy rains remained unabated in Haryana and Punjab on Sunday causing floods in some parts, while authorities sounded a high alert in the two states.

Following heavy rains in Aol village of Punjab, three members of a family were killed when the roof of their house collapsed.

Eleven people, including four women, have been rescued after they got stuck when the overflowing water of Beas river flooded their village in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.

In Rajasthan, water has started receding and there was no flood-like situation anywhere in the state. An official said 49 people have died in rain-related incidents in the state since June 15 and 500 people have been evacuated from the rain-affected areas.

In West Bengal, weather in large parts of south Bengal, including the metropolis, improved after two days of torrential rain that led to waterlogging in many areas and snapped road links at several places.

Rains lashed several parts of Chennai and its neighbourhood with the MeT office predicting more showers during the next two days.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 22,2020

New Delhi, Apr 22: Philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership in dealing with COVID-19 pandemic by adopting several measures including lockdown and increasing health expenditure to strengthen the health system response.

"We commend your leadership and the proactive measures you and your government have taken to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 infection rate in India, such as adopting a national lockdown, expanding focused testing to identify hot spots for isolation, quarantining, and care, and significantly increasing health expenditures to strengthen the health system response and promote R&D and digital innovation," Gates wrote.

He added: "I'm glad your government is fully utilising its exceptional digital capabilities in its COVID-19 response and has launched the Aarogya Setu digital app for coronavirus tracking, contact tracing, and to connect people to health services."

Prime Minister Modi had on March 24 announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown was later extended to May 3.

Gates further stated, "Grateful to see that you are seeking to balance public health imperatives with the need to ensure adequate social protection for all Indians."

With 1,486 new cases and 49 deaths in the last 24 hours, India's total number of coronavirus positive cases have risen to 20,471 while the death toll stands at 652, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Wednesday.

Out of the total number of cases, 15,859 are active cases, 3,959 cured or discharged or migrated and 652 deaths.

Bill Gates met Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi on November 18 last year.

During his visit, Gates had addressed a function organised by NITI Aayog for the release of its report on 'Health Systems for a New India: Building Blocks - Potential Pathways to Reforms' wherein he lauded the country for its healthcare system and talked about how digital tools can help improve it further.

At that time, the philanthropist had commended the Central government for stepping up and eradicating polio.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 6,2020

New Delhi, Apr 6: With an increase of 490 cases in the last 12 hours, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in India climbed to 4067, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday.

As many as 109 deaths have been reported across the country due to the deadly disease.
There are 3666 active cases in the country while 292 people have been cured/discharged/migrated.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases so far, standing at 690, followed by Tamil Nadu and Delhi with 571 and 503 cases respectively. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
August 6,2020

New Delhi, Aug 6 : With a single-day spike of 56,282 new COVID-19 cases and 904 deaths in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 tally reached 19,64,537 on Thursday.

With the increase of 904 deaths, the toll due to the disease now stands at 40,699 in the country, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

The COVID-19 count includes 5,95,501 active cases and 13,28,337 cured/discharged/migrated patients.

Meanwhile, as per the MoHFW, the percentage of discharged patients stands at 67.62, while the active cases are at 30.31 in the country as of today.

The deaths reported due to the infection are currently at a little above two per cent of the total confirmed cases in the country.

Maharashtra with 1,46,268 active cases and 3,05,521 cured and discharged patients continues to be the worst affected. The state has also reported 16,476 deaths due to the infection.

Tamil Nadu has 54,184 active cases while 2,14,815 patients have been discharged after treatment in the state. 4,461 deaths have been reported due to COVID-19 in the state.

Andhra Pradesh with 80,426 active cases is the third on the list. There are 1,04,354 cured and discharged patients and 1,681 deaths reported from the state.

The national capital's active cases tally once again crossed the 10-thousand mark with 175 new cases being reported. Delhi now has 10,072 active cases and 1,26,116 cured and discharged patients. 4,044 people have lost their lives due to the disease in the Union Territory so far.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.