Weather forecast Today Highlights: As Kerala continues to battle the torrential downpour lashing its shores, the death toll has risen to 60, most of them from Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad. Over one lakh people have been moved to 988 relief camps across the state. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held a meeting with senior officials on Sunday morning to review the flood situation. He later told reporters that even though the rains have subsided people should remain vigilant.
Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi will be based in his parliamentary constituency for the next few days to assess the situation. Taking to Twitter, the former Congress chief said that he will be visiting relief camps across Wayanad and will review relief measures with District and State officials. Flight operations from Cochin International Airport resumed on Sunday afternoon, two days after it was shut due to inundation of the runway area following heavy rains, an official told PTI.
Four more people have died in rain-related incidents in Karnataka, taking the toll to 31 on Sunday as the flood situation remained grim in the state, news agency PTI reported. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah Sunday took an aerial survey of the flood-hit regions of Belagavi in Karnataka and Maharashtra’s Kolhapur and Sangli.
In Calicut: One team of DSC ex calicut moved to koyilandi, 45 km north, same place as yesterday for relief and rescue. Other two teams standby. Engineering Task Force (ETF) 63 , split into two parties.
Party 1 is on the way to vilangad to rescue locals from landslide.
Party 2 is proceeding to construct a pedestrian bridge so as to regain the connectivy of some collapsed bridge in Thamarassery.
In Wayanad: Madras Regimental Centre (MRC) column and ETF moved to manthawadi, 25 km from kalpetta for rescue and relief, DSC Column standby in Kalpetta.
In Malappuram: Half column of MRC and half ETF moved to Vanianphuza, 6 km from Pothukal, for attempting rescue of stranded 400 tribals in that area, helidropping of food packets also planned. Second half column of MRC with Medical officer and half ETF moved to sliding site Buthanam Kavalapara, 8 km from Pothukal where civ cas occurred day before.
In Kannur: Column of DSC standby.
Rescue relief details will be known by evening
I visited Kavalapara, the site of the landslide in Bhoothanam. Several people are still trapped and rescue operations are underway but more help is required immediately: Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter
Kolhapur District Police on Sunday afternoon said that the Mumbai-Bangalore National Highway will not be opened for traffic after a trial drive of heavy vehicles on the submerged part of the highway near Kolhapur showed that the current of the water was still unsafe for passage. A police official said that while the highway will remain closed at Shirol, the situation will be assessed on Monday morning again.
Earlier, the Police had said they were assessing the situation to examine whether it can be opened for traffic at Shirol in Kolhapur where the highway has been waterlogged. As part of the assessment, police sent two heavy vehicles -- a tanker and an earthmover across the submerged part. While the vehicles reached the other end of the submerged part, officials have said that current of the water was still unsafe, even for passage of heavy vehicles. At some points on the flooded part, the water level was three feet.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Sunday began his Kerala visit to review situation in his Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency ravaged by floods and landslides. He would later visit some rain-hit places in neighbourig Mallapuram district three assembly segments of which form part of Wayanad constituency, party sources said. Gandhi, who won with a record margin from the hill constituency in the April Lok Sabha elections, said during his stay he would visit relief camps across Wayanad and review relief measures with state government officials.
Several people have so far lost their lives in Wayanad and Malappuram districts in the monsoon fury while many are feared missing in a major landslide. (PTI)
Relief materials for Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala can be booked on goods train and parcel vans by all government organisations across the country free of cost, Deputy Director (Traffic Commercial) of the Railway Board Mahendar Singh said. “All the government organisations across the country can book relief material free of cost to Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra as of now. Other organisations, as deemed fit by the divisional Railway manager, may also avail of this provision,” he said in a letter to all Railway general managers. Read more here
With the recovery of five more bodies, the death toll in the boat capsize tragedy in Sangli district has gone up to 17, even as over four lakh people have so far been been evacuated from flood-affected parts of Maharashtra, officials said on Sunday. More than five lakh cusec of water is being discharged from Almatti dam on the Krishna river in Karnataka to ease the flood situation in western Maharashtra. Over 30 people have been killed in rain-related incidents in five districts of western Maharashtra in the last one week, including 17 who drowned when a boat capsized near Brahmanal village in Sangli on Thursday. (PTI)
The Indian Railways has announced waiver of freight charges for transportation of relief materials to Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala, which have been badly hit by floods. Relief materials for these states can be booked on a goods train and parcel vans by all government organisations across the country free of cost, Deputy Director (Traffic Commercial) of the Railway Board Mahendar Singh said. (PTI)
Flight operations from the Cochin International Airport resumed on Sunday afternoon, two days after it was shut due to inundation of the runway area following heavy rains, an official said. The Abu Dhabi-Kochi Indigo flight touched down at around 12.15 pm, marking the resumption of the operations, the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) official said. Check-in commenced at 9 am in both the domestic and international terminals. The airport had on Friday suspended all operations till 3 pm on Sunday as the runway area in the airport was waterlogged due to floods. (PTI)
As the situation in flood-hit Kolhapur and Sangli districts in western Maharashtra showed signs of improvement on Saturday, with water levels starting to recede, the common refrain among those lodged in cramped relief camps was — “What if it again rains like this?” Saturday was the sixth day of one of the worst floods that Sangli and Kolhapur witnessed in recent times. While 3.7 lakh people have been rescued in these districts, local residents now hope that it doesn’t rain heavily in the next 72 hours to allow water levels to recede completely. Read here more
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan confirms 60 deaths till today in the state.
Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi will be based in his parliamentary constituency for the next few days to assess the situation.
Surat faced a flood-like situation on Saturday after the authorities started releasing water from Ukai dam since Friday. Over 200 people were shifted to safer places in Surat city. On Friday afternoon, the authorities started releasing 64,000 cusecs of water from the dam, which was increased to over lakh cusecs by night and 1.9 lakh cusecs by Saturday morning. Thirteen out of 22 gates of the dam are open. Read more here
Four more people have died in rain-related incidents in Karnataka, taking the toll to 31 on Sunday as the flood situation remained grim in the state. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will conduct an aerial survey of flood-affected areas in Belagavi district and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa will join him in the exercise. An official release said the death toll has risen to 31 with four more deaths last night while 14 people were missing.As many as 3.14 lakh people have been evacuated and of them 2.18 lakh people are staying in 924 relief camps. (PTI)
1. Train No.12625 Thiruvananthapuram – New Delhi Kerala express of 11.08.2019 diverted to run via Nagercoil Town, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Dindigul, Karur, Erode, Salem and Jolarpettai.
2. Train No.12508 Silchar – Thiruvananthapuram Aronai express of 08.08.2019 diverted to run via Salem, Namakkal, Karur, Dindigul, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil Town.
With the onset of monsoon in Tricity, UT wildlife department is receiving at least four calls of snake being spotted or entered in residential areas every day. In the last one-and-half months, the wildlife wing has received 85 complaints pertaining to this and these all reptiles were rescued and safely released in the adjoining forest areas. Similarly, nine cases of snakebites largely from the areas of Nayagon, Kansal and Derabassi in Mohali were reported in the last one month. Victims of snakebites were treated at GMSH-16, GMCH-32 and PGI. The rescued snakes belong the species of Indian wolf snake, spectacled cobra, python and rat snakes. Read more here
1. Train No.12076 Thiruvananthapuram – Kozhikkode Jan Shatabdi express of 11.08.2019 is partially cancelled between Shoranur – Kozhikkode.
2. Train No.12075 Kozhikkode – Thiruvananthapura Jan Shatabdi express of 11.08.2019 is partially cancelled between Kozhikkode – Shoranur.
3. Train No.22644 Patna – Ernakulam express of 09.08.2019 is partially cancelled between Palakkad – Ernakulam.
4. Train No.12511 Gorakhpur – Thiruvananthapuram Raptisagar express of 09.08.2019 is partially cancelled between Coimbatore – Thiruvananthapuram.
5. Train No.22643 Ernakulam – Patna express of 12.08.2019 is partially cancelled between Ernakulam – Erode.
6. Train No.12617 Ernakulam – Hazrat Nizamuddin Mangala express of 11.08.2019 is partially cancelled between Ernakulam – Mangalore Jn.
7. Train No.19261 Kochuveli – Porbandar express of 11.08.2019 is partially cancelled between Kochuveli – Mangalore Jn.
1. Train No.16348 Mangaluru – Thiruvananthapuram express of 11.08.2019
2. Train No.16603 Mangaluru – Thiruvananthapuram Maveli express of 11.08.2019
3. Train No.16630 Mangaluru – Thiruvananthapuram Malabar express of 11.08.2019
4. Train No.16356 Mangaluru Jn. – Kochuveli Antyodaya express of 11.08.2019
5. Train No.16306 Kannur – Ernakulam Intercity express of 11.08.2019
6. Train No.12678 Ernakulam – Bengaluru Intercity express of 11.08.2019
7. Train No.56664 Kozhikkode – Thrisur passenger train of 11.08.2019
8. Train No.56603 Thrissur – Kannur passenger train of 11.08.2019
9. Train No.56605 Coimbatore – Thrissur – Kannur passenger train of 11.08.2019
10. Train No.66611 Palakkad – Ernakulam passenger train of 11.08.2019
The death toll in the monsoon fury in Kerala rose to 59 on Sunday with two bodies being recovered while there was a slight let-up in the rains in some regions in the state, officials said. According to official sources, one body each was recovered this morning from Kozhikode and Alapuzha districts, which are among the badly hit by the torrential rains since last week. (PTI)
The Mumbai-Bangalore highway may be opened for traffic today afternoon or evening, after being closed for several days due to flooding. Officers from Maharashtra State Highway Patrol said they are assessing the situation at Shirol in Kolhapur on the highway, where the road has been closed for six days now. The police teams are examining the possibility of opening the road around 6 pm today for essential services, but only after primary inspection by Public Works Department officials. Read more here
Crops across 2 lakh hectares remain submerged in Maharashtra as floods have overwhelmed many parts of the state. Sugarcane, jowar, rice, onions and other vegetables, as well as orchards of mangoes and grapes have suffered the most damage, said officials of the Agriculture department, which has started surveying the flood-hit areas. Districts of Pune, Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur in western Maharashtra, along with Nashik, Dhule and Jalgaon, have faced the wrath of nature in the last few days, as major rivers in the area breached their banks. Read more here
Krishna river, the lifeline of south-western Maharashtra, has wreaked havoc in the districts it flows through. Large tracts of land in Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Pune continue to remain underwater. Partha Sarathi Biswas explains why the situation has again brought to focus the issue of dam management. What led to the flooding?
Officers from Maharashtra State Highway Patrol said that they were assessing the situation at Shirol in Kolhapur on Mumbai-Bangalore Highway, where the road is still closed due to flooding, on the sixth consecutive day. The police teams are also examining the possibility of opening the road around 6 pm today for essential services, only after primary inspection by Public Works Department Officials.
On Monday, when Pavana river water had started gushing into their homes, over 140 members of the 36 families had locked up their houses and taken refuge in a relief camp at a civic school in Phugewadi, set up by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). But four days later, when they returned home, they found that the river water had damaged most of their belongings such as TVs, refrigerators, stoves, clothes and bags. When The Indian Express visited the area on Saturday, some of the women broke down while narrating their plight. Read more here
The elders in Nilambur have unnerving memories of the kind of devastation that befell the town this week. In 1961, one of Kerala’s wettest years, the town, although not as developed and popular as now, was said to be submerged for days by the floodwaters from the mighty Chaliyar river. Fifty-eight years later, the memories have come back to haunt them. On Saturday afternoon, as monsoon showers eased up, the swollen waters of the Chaliyar receded from the heart of Nilambur to leave a town under a wrap of brown sludge and muck. Read more here
The toll due to the floods in Pune Division has reached 30, said Pune Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar on Saturday. Pune Division includes the districts of Sangli, Pune, Kolhapur, Satara and Solapur. Three more bodies have been found from the Bramhanal boat capsize incident, taking the toll to 12, while six people were still missing. Click here to read more
Rescue workers finally managed to reach Kavalappara village in Malappuram, Kerala, on Saturday noon, two days after a hill came down following incessant rain, burying more than a dozen houses and at least 46 people. A full-fledged search operation had to wait as forces and rescue workers could not be mobilised to the spot due to heavy rain and landslides along the way. On Saturday, even as the men, aided by locals rummaging through the debris for their friends and relatives, were carrying out rescue, another portion of the hill came down in the area, which is spread over vast coconut and rubber plantations. Read more here
Welcome to the Indian Express LIVE blog. Follow this space to track the latest developments on the weather.