Monsoon Rains

The deficient rain in the Northern plains, especially in the Gangetic region, is likely to increase food inflation in the near term as overall paddy production will be hit in these areas due to poor monsoon, according to a report. Major agricultural states, such as Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, have had poor rains during the just concluded season, which may lead to an increase in the prices of rice due to lower paddy products in the near term. The share of these states in overall rice sowing in the Kharif season (as of September 23) has declined to 24.1 per cent from 26 per cent in the previous year, according to an assessment by India Ratings. This is despite the fact that the 2022 monsoon has been above normal but has not spread adequately across the regions. As of September 30, the rainfalls fared well at 92.5cm, which is 6 per cent above the long period average (LPA) of 86.86 cm. At the disaggregate level, while 12 states/Union territories had excess rainfall (deviation f

Durga Puja in Kolkata and southern West Bengal districts is likely to be rain-drenched this year with the Met department on Tuesday saying that a cyclonic circulation may form over northwest Bay of Bengal on October 1. Regional Met director GK Das said that the system is likely to cause heavy rain in Kolkata and other southern districts on October 2 -- Mahasaptami, the first day of the four-day festival. "Rainfall is likely on all four days of the festival, with heavier precipitation on October 2 and light to moderate rain till October 5 thereafter," Das said. The cyclonic circulation may intensify after formation on October 1, he said. The community puja organisers said they are taking all precautions to save the pandals and artwork. Bikash Majumder, the secretary of College Square Puja committee, said "We don't have control over nature but I am hopeful Maa Durga will ensure that we can celebrate the puja in a grand manner as in pre-pandemic times and there is no ...

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will visit the cloudburst-hit areas of Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district on Sunday and meet the affected people in Khotila village. The cloudburst that occurred past midnight in a border village of Nepal triggered a flash flood in Khotila village on the Indian side as surging waters of the Kali river rushed into homes, filling them with sludge and killing a woman. The body of Pashupati Devi, resident of Khotila village, was later pulled out of the sludge that had choked her house after the flooding of the river, Pithoragarh District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan said.

Parts of Delhi received light to moderate rainfall on Saturday with the maximum temperature settling at 36.8 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal, according to the India Meteorological Department. The city is likely to receive light rainfall over the next five days, the IMD said. The national capital recorded a minimum temperature of 27.6 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal, it said. A brief spell of light to moderate rainfall was reported in several areas including Mukherjee Nagar, GTB Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Civil Lines, Dilshad Garden, Seemapuri and Kashmere Gate. The relative humidity at 5:30 pm was recorded at 64 per cent. Delhi's air quality index (AQI) was recorded in the 'moderate' (107) category around 6:30 pm, data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) showed. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'seve

A woman went missing and 28 houses in Khotila village in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district were inundated after a cloudburst triggered a flashflood in the Kali river in the early hours of Saturday, officials said. The cloudburst occurred past midnight in Bangabagar village across the India-Nepal border, causing a flashflood in the Kali river whose raging waters mixed with debris gushed into 28 houses in Khotila, a village on the Indian side of the border, Pithoragarh District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan said. One woman went missing in Khotila village but there are no reports yet of any casualties, he said. The affected area on the Nepal side received 132.2 mm of rain, the DM said. Pithoragarh District Disaster Management Officer Bhupendra Singh Mahar said some animals belonging to the villagers have also been lost. The administration of the border town of Dharchula is running rescue operation on the spot with the help of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and police personnel, Ma

Flood flow has slowly increased at Prakasam Barrage on river Krishna at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh even as the first warning signal continued on Friday. The instant inflow and outflow at the barrage rose to 4.23 lakh cusecs at 8 pm today. The discharge at Dr K L Rao Sagar Pulichintala upstream the Prakasam Barrage was 4.20 lakh cusecs. From Srisailam reservoir, 4.41 lakh cusecs (cubic feet of water flow per second) has been discharged, while at Nagarjuna Sagar downstream 3.93 lakh cusecs was released, according to the Water Resources Information Management System data. Krishna District Collector P Ranjit Basha directed the government machinery to be on high alert in view of the rising flood levels. He asked people not to go near the river course. Meanwhile, river Penna also continued to be in spate with increasing inflows due to continuing rains in the upper catchment areas in neighbouring Karnataka. The outflow at Somasila reservoir in SPS Nellore district touched 19,034 cusec

The cataclysmic floods in Pakistan has caused economic damages to the tune of around USD 18 billion to the country's teetering economy, wiping out more than 8 million acres of crops and displacing more than 33 million, media reports said on Friday. Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in northern mountains brought floods that have killed at least 36 people in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 1,391 as of Friday, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. The rapid assessment cost on projected economic losses following Pakistan's worst food floods as calculated by the government and endorsed by the provinces has gone up further to the tune of around USD 18 billion, according to The News International newspaper. The devastating floods have inundated a third of the country, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saying on Wednesday that parts of Pakistan seemed like a sea. The losses further swelled because agricultural crops have been destroyed across 8.25 ..

Technology companies, which bore the brunt of recent flood due to heavy rains in the city, on Wednesday aired their grievances before Karnataka IT/BT Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, urging him to find a solution to the rain-related woes. At a meeting convened by Narayan to discuss the problems caused by the unprecedented rainfall, the representatives of several IT companies said their primary concern was to bring to the notice of the government the miseries they faced and the losses incurred. In reply, the Minister assured them that the state government will help find a permanent solution to the infrastructural issues in the Mahadevpura zone, which witnessed water-logging, by next year. Narayan also sought the cooperation of tech companies to retain the status of 'Bangalore Brand'. A virtual meeting will be conducted every month from now on to resolve the grievances of entrepreneurs, a statement issued by the office of the Minister. He also said that the government will examine ..

While flood waters receded in some parts of Bengaluru on Wednesday, the worst is not over for IT capital yet, with the weather bureau predicting heavy rainfall over south interior Karnataka, including the city, for the next two days. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is predicted over a few places in coastal and south interior Karnataka on September 8-9 and interior Karnataka on September 9-10, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). "A cyclonic circulation lies over interior Karnataka and neighbourhood. A trough runs from cyclonic circulation over east-central and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal to north Kerala across Rayalaseema and south interior Karnataka," it said. While experts have attributed the flooding in IT capital to encroachments on the stormwater drain and water bodies which impede the flow of rainwater, excess rain has also played its part. According to IMD data, the Bengaluru City observatory recorded 251.4 mm of rainfall in the last four days, includin

The deluge in Bengaluru has led to a spike in demand for hotel rooms and a surge in room tariffs in some hotels as people escape waterlogged homes. Most hotels in the city already had a very high occupancy before parts of Bengaluru got marooned and current high rates were not a direct consequence of the floods, said industry players. When contacted, an OYO spokesperson said: "The average tariff for OYOs in Bangalore currently stands a little over Rs 1,000, making OYO an affordable and easily accessible stay option for flood affected people in the city. Our 'Nearby stays' option and 'Pay at hotel' facility makes booking an OYO easy for the rain drenched Bangaloreans looking for hotels. We hope to support as many Bangaloreans with quality stays during this challenging time for the city." At Leela Palace Bengaluru, a staff said the pricing has always been dynamic based on occupancy and demand. At present the existing rate for a standard double room for a night is Rs 15,750 plus taxes p

Tractor is the new buzz word trending in the high-tech circles of the city

State-owned CIL on Wednesday said it will reach close to its production target of 306 million tonnes (MT) in the first half of FY23, provided its mining areas are not extremely affected by heavy rains this month. Coal India Ltd (CIL) accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output. "At the current pace of production...the company is hopeful of reaching close to the apportioned H1 target of 306 MT," CIL said. Of the total production target of 700 MT for FY23, the output split is around 44 per cent in the first half and 56 per cent in the second half, the company said in a statement. Coal India's production increased by 44.6 million tonnes in just five months and four days of the ongoing fiscal (as of September 4). CIL's progressive production touched 259.6 MT as on 4 September, compared to 215 MT during the same period date last year, the statement said. The public sector unit began to chase the production output with growth rate of 12.4 per cent which, on the back of a stro

At least 11 more people were killed in Pakistan in the last 24 hours due to catastrophic floods, taking the death toll to 1,325 in the country amidst efforts to minimise the losses by rescuing the people and providing them food and shelter. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in its update that 12,703 people were also injured due to accidents related to floods, which were triggered by the monsoon rains. Though the situation has improved in the mountainous north where flash floods washed away houses and commercial buildings but Sindh province in the south is still braving floods, and its Dadu district is still under threat. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a visit to Sindh's Qambar-Shahdadkot district announced a 2.5 times increase in the compensation amount set aside for flood-affected individuals from Rs28 billion to Rs72 billion. The programme will now cover hundreds of thousands of more families, he said. The government is trying to address the issues fac

Boats have been deployed in Bengaluru suburbs after heavy rains pounded and inundated the city

Foreign ministry officials of both countries were initially in touch for distribution of aid but Indian officials now say they aren't hearing from Islamabad

Floods triggered by Pakistan's record rains in three decades accompanied by the melting of glaciers have killed over 1,200 people and rendered millions of others without food and shelter, according to the latest national data on Friday. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said its situation report that 416 children and 244 women were among those killed while another 6,082 people were injured. Floods have inundated a third of the country with the southern province of Sindh and the southwestern region of Balochistan being the worst hit. Dadu district of Sindh was the latest to face the fury of nature as the water was rising due to a surge in the flow of water down the River Indus. A total of 1,208 people have been killed by flash floods triggered by record monsoon rains across much of Pakistan, the NDMA said in a statement. Officials said that 10,000 to 15,000 cusecs of water were being discharged from Manchhar Lake into River Indus on Friday morning while 70,000 to 80,

Lutyens' Delhi has lost more than 350 trees due to rain and storm in the past three years, data from the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) showed. According to the data, more than eight lakh saplings were planted in the NDMC region over a period of two years. In reply to an RTI query by PTI, the civic body stated that it also engaged residents and societies in mass plantation programmes to increase green cover. Indigenous tree species such as neem, peepal, pilkhan, jamun, arjun, khirni, and imli were planted in the NDMC area when British architect Edwin Landseer Lutyens was entrusted with the task to plan New Delhi in 1911. "A total of 354 trees have fallen in last three years due to heavy storm and rain. The NDMC's horticulture department is regularly doing pruning to balance the trees. As many as 8,38,675 tree saplings have been planted in NDMC area in last two years," the NDMC said. It also said that at present there are 1.5 lakh threes in the NDMC area. In the RTI reply, the

IMD says fresh withdrawal dates will be updated soon; last week it said withdrawal might set in by Sep 7

India received 3.4% more rainfall than average in August as central and southern parts of the country received heavy rains, IMD said

Around five million people in flood-hit Pakistan, including children, may fall sick due to the outbreak of water-borne and vector-borne diseases such as typhoid and diarrhea in the next four to 12 weeks, health experts have warned. Floods triggered by unprecedented monsoon rains have caused widespread havoc across Pakistan, killing over 1,100 people so far and destroying farmlands. Those who survived nature's fury are facing health issues, the News International reported. As the condition stays grim, health officials said that people in the flooded areas of Sindh, Balochistan, southern Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are likely to get diarrhea, cholera, gastroenteritis, typhoid and vector-borne diseases like dengue and malaria. It is estimated that a disease outbreak would initially require medicines and medical supplies worth Rs 1 billion, they said, and urged donors, philanthropists and common people to donate these after consulting health experts and officials of rescue and welfare