Tag: death toll

Myanmar: Death Toll From Typhoon Yagi Rises to 226

Floods from Typhoon Yagi have so far claimed the lives of 226 people in Myanmar. The damage is also severely impeding urgent aid efforts.

The death toll from flooding in Myanmar triggered by Typhoon Yagi has spiked to 226 in just over a week, state media reported on Tuesday.

About 77 people are still missing, state media in the junta-ruled Myanmar said.

Areas including the capital, Naypyitaw, the second largest city of Mandalay and parts of Shan state were among those hit hardest by the floods.

Conditions obstructed much-needed aid deliveries

The flooding has affected approximately 631,000 people across the southeast Asian country, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) disaster response agency said.

The agency added that blocked roads and damaged bridges were all severely hindering relief efforts even as food, drinking water, shelter and clothes were urgently needed.

Over 150,000 homes were flooded, Global New Light of Myanmar, the newspaper of the military government, reported.

“A total of 388 relief camps were opened in nine regions and states, and the well-wishers donated drinking water, food and clothes,” the state newspaper said.

Myanmar’s state TV said nearly 260,000 hectares (640,000 acres) of rice paddies and other crops had been destroyed in the flooding.

Roughly a third of the country’s 55 million people already need humanitarian aid in the wake of the conflict triggered by a 2021 coup that saw the powerful military overthrow the civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Affected areas include camps for displaced people, including children, who were already struggling with limited services due to ongoing conflict,” The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement.

Typhoon Yagi leaves Southeast Asia battered

Typhoon Yagi is the strongest storm to strike Asia this year.

Hundreds of thousands of people across southeast Asia have been forced to flee in the past week as rains from the typhoon cause rivers and creeks to swell beyond bursting point.

In Vietnam, the storm killed 292 people and 38 are missing.

Authorities said over 230,000 homes have been damaged and 280,000 hectares of crops destroyed.

In Thailand, where the northern provinces were hit hard, deaths rose to 15 on Tuesday, as per data from the  Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s administration has announced a financial aid package of up to $6,000 per household for those affected by the floods.

This report first appeared on DW.

‘Decomposing Bodies of Four Babies’: A Grim Reminder of Israel’s War That Has Not Spared Children

On November 10, a nurse had no choice but to carry the baby he thought will survive with a temporary cut to his oxygen supply, during an evacuation. He had to leave the other four babies with their breathing machines on. Despite promises, no one came to take them back to a safe place.

New Delhi: Last month, a Gazan journalist ventured into the hospital to find an awful visual: decomposing bodies of four babies, eaten by worms, blackened by mold, mauled by stray dogs.

Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital director Bakr Qaoud told The Washington Post that at the height of Israel’s assault on northern Gaza in November, everybody was ordered to evacuate.

The whereabouts of the parents of the infants, born premature, were not known after a month of war.

There were a total of five infants Qaoud was taking care of. All of them were vulnerable.

They needed oxygen, and medication administered at regular intervals. There were no portable respirators or incubators to transport them. Without life support, the nurse feared, they wouldn’t survive an evacuation, the newspaper reported.

However, after the Israeli Defense Force delivered an ultimatum on November 10, he had no choice but to carry the baby he thought will survive with a temporary cut to his oxygen supply. He had to leave the other four babies, reluctantly, with their breathing machines on.

Israeli forces told al-Nasr’s staff they had to leave, according to Qaoud. “They sent us a map for a safe route,” he told The Post in a WhatsApp message. “They gave us half an hour to go out. Otherwise, they will bombard the hospital.”

However, the staff was promised that ambulances will be sent back to take the patients from al-Nasr and al-Rantisi, a pediatric cancer centre.

In a telephone conversation with the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, an arm of Israel’s defense ministry, the al-Rantisi official requested ambulances. In a recording of that call released by the Israel Defense Forces, a senior COGAT officer responds in Arabic: “No problem.”

The senior COGAT officer tells the al-Rantisi official that he will “arrange coordination” for ambulances. He gives the precise route that medical staff should take out of the complex.

The al-Rantisi official reminds COGAT that staff will also be evacuating al-Nasr. The COGAT officer acknowledges the reminder.

Qaoud, too, said there was “coordination with the Red Cross and Israeli army that we will go out and then these cases will be later evacuated to another hospital that was safe.”

According to Human Rights Watch, Gaza authorities said that more than 6,000 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7. There are many who are still missing and buried under the rubble.

According to Israeli authorities, the October 7 attack killed at least 33 children, and 40 children were taken hostage.

Also read: As the World Watches, Gaza Has Become a Graveyard for Children

Of what were the babies guilty? Why did the army target them?

The journalist, Hazem Balousha, described the scene on camera and hurried out of the unit.

The nurse, who reviewed the video, said the corpses were found where he had left the babies. No one had come for them, The Post reported.

“The remains, still hooked up to respirators, bear little resemblance to bodies. They appear as piles of rotting flesh, bones protruding, body parts difficult to make out. Soiled-looking diapers remain wrapped around their middles.”

However, on Saturday, IDF spokeswoman Doron Spielman, during a live conversation on X, formerly Twitter, appeared to cast doubt on the story, saying: “There were no premature babies that decomposed because of the IDF; there were probably no babies that decomposed whatsoever.”

The evacuation was painful. There was no way to reach the babies’ families, the nurse told the newspaper. He said he had no contact information, and communications were disrupted in many parts of Gaza. Their parents had been “displaced people,” he said, “who knew their children were in the hospital and didn’t think the hospital would be hit or raided by the occupation.

“They thought they left them in safety.”

Qaoud told The Post that the Israeli military “was informed there were cases” left inside the hospital, but “was determined to evacuate”

Davies, the Red Cross spokeswoman, said the organisation “received several requests to evacuate hospitals in the north of Gaza, but due to this security situation, we were not involved in any operations of evacuations, nor did teams commit to doing so.”

No one has emerged to claim the bodies. There has been no indication that the parents know their children are dead, the nurse told The Post.

He remains haunted by the event. He believes he needs psychiatric treatment, the daily reported.

Of what, he asks, were the babies guilty?

“Were they fighters?” he asked. “Were they holding weapons? Were they firing rockets?

“Why does the army hit the oxygen and electricity? Why did the army target them?”

Death Toll in North Madhya Pradesh’s Rain Fury and Floods Rises to 24

The authorities said that the flood situation is slowly improving and at present “no life-threatening” scenario exists in the region, where rescue and relief work is currently on.

Bhopal: The fatality count in rain-related incidents in flood-ravaged Gwalior and Chambal divisions of Madhya Pradesh increased to 24, officials said on Saturday.

The authorities said that the flood situation is slowly improving and at present “no life-threatening” scenario exists in the region, where rescue and relief work is currently on.

The death toll in the rain-related incidents in the flood-hit parts of the state has risen to 24. These fatalities were recorded between August 1 and 7, Revenue Secretary Gyaneshwar Patil said.

Till Friday, officials pegged the number of deceased at 12.

The flood situation in north Madhya Pradesh had turned grim earlier this week, where more than 1,250 villages were affected by the deluge following heavy rains. Gwalior, Shivpuri, Sheopur, Datia, Ashok Nagar, Guna, Bhind and Morena districts were affected as the region was being pounded by rains since Sunday.

However, from Thursday, the intensity of rainfall in the two divisions started going down.

No life threatening situation due to flooding exists in Gwalior and Chambal divisions at present, Divisional Commissioner Ashish Saxena said.

Also read: Massive Floods in Germany and Belgium Kill 157 as Search Continues

Addressing ‘Anna Utsav’ programme earlier in the day, state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that 8,832 people were rescued from the flood-affected parts of the state, while 29,280 others have been shifted to safer places from these areas so far.

Saxena said that around 50 people, who were stuck in flooded areas of Ashok Nagar district in Gwalior division, have been moved to safety.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indian Air Force (IAF) have reached Ashok Nagar for the rescue operation, he said, adding that Army columns are also scheduled to reach the affected areas.

“The rescue operation in the affected areas is almost over and relief work is gathering steam,” the official said.

Meanwhile, P K Saha, senior meteorologist with the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Bhopal office said that Ashok Nagar and Guna districts in Gwalior division received 32.0 mm and 164.1 mm rainfall, respectively, in 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Saturday.

“The low pressure area is lying over northern parts of east Madhya Pradesh and its neighbourhood now. It was over central parts of north Madhya Pradesh and neighbourhood on Friday,” he said.

With its shift to east MP, the flood situation in Gwalior and Chambal is likely to improve as rain activity is likely to lessen from Saturday.

In a series of tweets in the morning, the chief minister said, I took a stock of the flood situation and the ongoing rescue operation this morning in Guna, Ashoknagar, Vidisha districts. Rescue operation of IAF resumed this morning. The teams of SDRF and NDRF are also working since night to rescue the people trapped in villages.

He said that during the rescue operations carried out using helicopters, 15 persons each were rescued from Barri and Sirsora villages of flood hit Ashok Nagar district on Saturday morning.

Six more persons were rescued from Vasunia Ghat village from the same district and shifted to a safer place. From Vidisha district, the teams rescued six persons, who were trapped on a tree at Riniya village of Vidisha district, he said.

Meanwhile, state Congress chief Kamal Nath visited the flood-affected people in the region on Saturday.

(PTI)

Global COVID-19 Death Toll Exceeds 4 Million; 2 Million Deaths Recorded in Just 166 Days

The top five countries by total number of deaths – the United States, Brazil, India, Russia and Mexico – represent about 50% of all deaths in the world.

Coronavirus-related deaths worldwide passed a grim milestone of four million on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, as many countries struggle to procure enough vaccines to inoculate their populations.

While the number of new cases and deaths have abated in countries like the United States and Britain, several nations have vaccine shortages as the Delta variant becomes the dominant strain around the world.

It took over a year for the COVID–19 death toll to hit two million, while the next two million were recorded in just 166 days, according to a Reuters analysis.

The top five countries by total number of deaths – the United States, Brazil, India, Russia and Mexico – represent about 50% of all deaths in the world, while Peru, Hungary, Bosnia, the Czech Republic and Gibraltar have the highest death rates when adjusted for population (graphic on global cases and deaths).

Countries in Latin America are facing their worst outbreak since March, with 43 of every 100 infections in the world being reported in the region. The top nine countries reporting the most deaths per capita over the last week were all in Latin America.

Hospitals in Bolivia, Chile and Uruguay are largely seeing COVID–19 patients between the ages of 25 and 40 as the trend toward younger patients continued. In Brazil’s Sao Paulo, 80% of intensive care units (ICU) occupants are COVID–19 patients.

Also read: Experts Say India Missed Early Alarm, Let Deadly Coronavirus Variant Spread

Soaring deaths are straining the operating capacity of crematoriums in developing nations and gravediggers in several countries have been forced to expand cemeteries with row after row of new tombs.

India and Brazil are the countries reporting the most deaths each day on a seven-day average and are still troubled with cremation woes and lack of burial space. India accounts for one in every three deaths reported worldwide each day.

Many health experts believe the official death toll to be undercounted globally, with the World Health Organization (WHO) last month estimating fatalities to be much higher.

Last week, Bihar raised its COVID–19 death toll sharply after the discovery of thousands of unreported cases, lending weight to concerns that India’s overall death tally is significantly more than the official figure.

As poorer nations struggle to inoculate their populations due to vaccine shortages, wealthier countries have been urged to donate more to control the pandemic.

“The primary issue in the Americas is vaccine access, not vaccine acceptance,” Pan American Health Organization Director Carissa Etienne said on Wednesday, urging donor countries to send shots as soon as possible.

The Group of Seven (G7) rich nations had pledged to provide one billion COVID–19 vaccinations to help poorer countries vaccinate their populations.

(Reuters)

With 3.52 Lakh New COVID-19 Cases, India Hits Record Peak for a Fifth Day

Countries including Britain, Germany and the US pledged to send urgent medical aid to fight the crisis overwhelming its hospitals.

New Delhi: India’s new coronavirus infections hit a record peak for a fifth day on Monday as countries including Britain, Germany and the US pledged to send urgent medical aid to fight the crisis overwhelming its hospitals.

Infections in the past 24 hours rose to 352,991, with overcrowded hospitals in Delhi and elsewhere turning away patients after running out of supplies of medical oxygen and beds.

“Currently the hospital is in beg-and-borrow mode and it is an extreme crisis situation,” said a spokesman of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the capital.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all citizens to get vaccinated and exercise caution, while hospitals and doctors have put out urgent notices saying they were unable to cope with the rush of patients.

In some of the worst-hit cities, including the capital, bodies were being burnt in makeshift facilities offering mass services.

Television channel NDTV broadcast images of three health workers in the eastern state of Bihar pulling a body along the ground on its way to cremation, as stretchers ran short.

“If you’ve never been to a cremation, the smell of death never leaves you,” Vipin Narang, a political science professor at MIT in the United States, said on Twitter.

“My heart breaks for all my friends and family in Delhi and India going through this hell.”

On Sunday, President Joe Biden said the US would send raw materials for vaccines, medical equipment and protective gear to India. Germany also joined a growing list of countries pledging to send supplies.

India, with a population of 1.3 billion, has a tally of 17.31 million infections and 195,123 deaths, after 2,812 deaths overnight, health ministry data showed.

But health experts say the death count is probably far higher.

Politicians, especially Modi, have faced criticism for holding rallies attended by thousands of people, packed close together in stadiums and grounds, despite a brutal second wave of infections.

Several cities have ordered curfews, while police have been deployed to enforce social distancing and mask-wearing.

Still, about 8.6 million voters were expected to cast ballots on Monday in the eastern state of West Bengal, in the penultimate part of an eight-phase election that will wrap up this week.

Voting for local elections in other parts of India included the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, which has been reporting an average of 30,000 infections a day.

(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Neha Arora; additional reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Writing by Richard Pullin; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Global Spotlight on Illegal Mica Mines Drives Jharkhand Villagers to Hide Deaths

“I will never go back (to the mica mines), never ever again. I tell other children the same thing.”

Koderma, India: After watching her sister-in-law and a friend die in a mica mine in eastern India in March this year, 15-year-old Ritika Murmu vowed she would never again pick the mineral and set out to warn others.

“I was picking mica when the debris fell. I went screaming to the village for help,” she said, recalling how her teenage friend died instantly while her sister-in-law died in hospital.

“I will never go back (to the mica mines), never ever again. I tell other children the same thing.”

But while Murmu wanted to talk about the deaths in Amjhar village in Jharkhand, other family members – including her brother Motilal Murmu whose 25-year-old wife died – denied there had been any fatalities.

For the two deaths were hushed up in a belt of eastern India reliant on mica where illegal mining is often the only way to earn an income, highlighting that people were still dying in mines despite promises by authorities to clean up the sector.

A Thomson Reuters Foundation exposé in 2016 found children were dying in illegal mines but their deaths covered up with families given “blood money” to be silent and keep producing the mineral used in make-up, car paint and electronics.

The revelation that seven children had died in two months prompted pledges by multinationals sourcing mica from three Indian states to clean up their supply chains, and authorities vowed to accelerate plans to legalize and regulate the sector.

But returning this year to two major mica hubs in Jharkhand state – Koderma and Giridih – the Thomson Reuters Foundation found mining was largely unchecked and that people were continuing to work – and die – in illegal mines.

A villager digs a hole in the ground to look for mica in Koderma, India, on October 17, 2019. Photo: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Roli Srivastava

Police records, local newspaper articles, and interviews with charity workers, officials, and eyewitnesses and relatives revealed 19 deaths in mica mines since 2018 – but only six were reported to the authorities. Three of the dead were children.

While the spotlight on the sector has led to more children going to school, campaigners and police said it had made villagers less likely to report accidents and deaths in a trade they know to be illegal, fearing arrest or losing their income.

The Jharkhand state government said activists recorded five child deaths in mica mines in 2018, but none so far this year.

Several people whose relatives were said to have died mining mica denied the claims made by their communities although local police described a handful of cases where deaths that appeared to be linked to mica were hidden or rebuffed by families.

Earlier this year in Koderma, police officer Tamil Banan was alerted to a dead body found in a mica mine. But by the time his team reached the spot, the body had disappeared and villagers said there was no death or case for authorities to investigate.

Police said they had never taken action against mica pickers but growing awareness of the illegality of the trade had made it far less likely for deaths and accidents to be reported to them.

“That they fear reporting deaths or accidents shows their fear of losing their only source of livelihood,” said Govind Khanal of the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF), which works with the Jharkhand government to end child labour.

“We are worried about children who continue to (mine mica) and people who are dying,” said Khanal, coordinator at the KSCF.

School student Ritika Murmu (L) who witnessed her sister-in-law’s death in a mica mine poses for a picture with other former child workers enrolled in schools in Giridih, India, on October 16, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Roli Srivastava

Lives at stake

India is one of the top producers of mica.

Once boasting more than 700 mines with over 20,000 workers, the industry was hit by 1980 legislation to limit deforestation and the discovery of substitutes for natural mica, forcing most mines to close due to cost and stringent environmental rules.

Also Read: In Ghana, Gold Miners Are Sacrificing Their Health to Get Rich Quick

But renewed interest in mica from China’s economic boom and a global craze for natural cosmetics saw illegal operators reopen abandoned mines, creating a lucrative black market.

The Jharkhand government is trying to tackle the problem on multiple fronts – whether boosting school enrolment, helping people find jobs or set up businesses to avoid making their children work, or legalising mica mines to improve conditions.

“A lack of alternative livelihood options for parents is leading them to send their children for work in mica mines,” said Amitabh Kaushal, principal secretary of the state government’s department for women and child development.

Kaushal said the KSCF had pulled out about 2,500 child workers from mica mines and enrolled them in schools since 2016.

Two mica blocks in the state which have been tapped by illegal operators – so-called “mica mafias” – are being auctioned to private mining firms in December, officials said.

“We are trying to revive the sector, make legal excavations possible,” said Aboobacker Siddique, secretary at the state’s department of mines and geology. “Many lives depend on it.”

Yet campaigners are concerned by the pace of government reforms and those promised by the Paris-based Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI), which was set up in 2016 to end child labour and improve conditions in Indian mica mines by 2021.

The RMI raised $1.33 million from its corporate members so far this year – 20% short of its 2019 target – to fund projects in 80 villages in India’s mica belt covering Koderma, Giridih in Jharkhand and Nawada in Bihar, said its head Fanny Fremont.

RMI has put children back in schools and connected families to state welfare schemes such as health insurance, she said.

The RMI’s 60 members include cosmetics firm L’Oréal and German drugs and chemical group Merck KGaA but it has no representative from the automobile industry and just one – Philips – from the electronics sector.

Villagers in Jharkhand, who were largely unaware of such promises and projects, saw no alternative to mining mica.

In one village, a group of women sat under a tree one evening next to a pile of mica that they had agreed to sell 10 days earlier at a price of up to 10 rupees ($0.14) per kilogram.

On the world market, mica can fetch up to $1,400 a kilogram.

“Our festivals, clothes … our lives revolve around mica,” said 26-year-old mica picker, Sunita Devi, clad in a colorful sari. “What will we do without it? There are no jobs here.”

As the sun set one evening in Koderma, the roads connecting mines to villages were dotted with people – including children – walking home, their hands glittering in the dusk from mica dust.

“My father died in a mica mine a few months ago,” said Mohammad Bilal Ansari, 25, who did not report the death.

“I did not complain. Mica is our destiny. This is our work.

(Thompson Reuters Foundation)

Death Toll in Andhra Pradesh Tourist Boat Mishap Rises to 28

The bodies of 18 people feared to have been drowned in the Godavari tourist boat accident are yet to be traced.

Amaravati The toll in the tourist boat accident in the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh mounted to 28 on Tuesday with the recovery of 16 drowned people, while 18 others are also feared drowned. These bodies have not yet been traced.

A post-mortem has been conducted on 27 people, after which the remains were handed over to their relatives, the State Disaster Management Authority said in a release on Tuesday night.

The SDMA said the ill-fated private boat was carrying 73 passengers, including eight crew.

Of the total, 27 survived the tragedy and were admitted to hospital for treatment of wounds and also trauma counselling.

It said two teams of NDRF, three of SDRF and one deep diver team of the Indian Navy were engaged in the search operation.

A Uttarakhand SDRF team of specialist deep divers carrying side-scan sonar equipment was also engaged in the operation.

State director general of police Gautam Sawang conducted an aerial survey of the area the boat boat capsized, at Kachhuluru on Tuesday afternoon. He later visited the victims who were undergoing treatment in the government hospital at Rajamahendravaram.

(PTI)

Death Toll From Assam, Bihar Floods Approaches 150, Over 1.15 Crore Affected

The toll in Bihar floods climbed to 92, with 14 deaths reported from different marooned areas of the state in the past 24 hours.

New Delhi:  The flood situation in Bihar and northeast India showed little improvement on Friday as over 1.15 crore people remained affected while the death toll due to flood and rain-related incidents neared 150.

The southwest monsoon advanced into the remaining parts of west Rajasthan, thereby covering the entire country on Friday. Most regions in northern India, except Delhi, recorded light to moderate rainfall.

The toll in Bihar floods climbed to 92, with 14 deaths reported from different marooned areas of the state in the past 24 hours.

Relief and rehabilitation measures were running in full swing with chief minister Nitish Kumar launching a drive under which over Rs 180 crore were disbursed among affected people through direct cash transfer.

Also read: Bengal’s Diamond Harbour Records Faster Sea-Level Rise Than Other Indian Ports

According to the state disaster management department, the death toll included the 27 fatalities in Sitamarhi, the district worst affected by the flash floods which hit the state in the wake of torrential rainfall in catchment areas of Nepal last week.

Altogether 66.76 lakh people, spread over twelve districts, have been hit by the calamity, the department said.

A member of the Nepalese army carrying a child walks along with the flooded colony in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo: Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Seven children, aged fifteen years or below, and a 26-year-old man were killed, while as many were injured, in a lightning strike in Bihar’s Nawada district on Friday afternoon.

According to the sub-divisional officer, Sadar, Nawada, Anu Kumar, the children were residents of Dhanpur Musahari village who had taken shelter under a tree while it was raining.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar issued a statement, expressing grief over the tragedy and announcing an ex-gratia of Rs four lakh to the next of the kin of each deceased.

Also read: Death Toll From Nepal Flash Floods Rises to 47, Dozens Missing, Injured

With eleven more people killed in Assam on Friday, the toll due to floods has risen to 47, while 48.87 lakh people were affected in 27 of the 33 districts of the state, an Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) report said.

Of the eleven deaths, five were reported from Dhubri district and three each from Barpeta and Morigaon, the report added.

In its bulletin, the ASDMA stated 48,87,443 people of 3,705 villages are reeling under the impact of the flood.

Villagers use a makeshift bamboo bridge to move across flooded areas of Morigaon district in Assam. Photo: Reuters/Anuwar Hazarika

Moreover, a total of 1.79 lakh hectare agricultural land was inundated and around 90% of rhino habitats – the Kaziranga National Park and the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary – are underwater.

The mercury and humidity levels rose in the national capital in the absence of rains on Friday. The weatherman said not much rain is likely in the city in the next two to three days. However, the maximum temperature is going to remain below the 36-degree Celsius mark due to “cloudy conditions and thundery developments”.

The national capital witnessed rains over the last three days that had resulted in a drop in temperatures and pollution levels.

Also read: Meghalaya: 1.14 Lakh People Affected as West Garo Hills Gets Flooded

On Friday, the Safdarjung Observatory recorded a high of 36.4 degrees Celsius, two notches more than average, and a low of 25 degrees Celsius. Humidity levels oscillated between 53 and 93%.

Overcast skies and light rains are likely on Saturday.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi’s air quality was recorded in the “moderate” category with an air quality index of 145.

Heavy rains lashed several parts of Kerala for the second consecutive day as the southwest monsoon intensified in the state after a period of lull.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) stated, some places in Kozhikode and Idukki districts, where a red alert has been sounded, recorded around 14 cm rainfall in the past 24 hours. While regions in Malappuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam and Kottayam districts received rainfall of over 12 cm.

Villagers use a boat to cross a flooded road at Asigarh village in Morigaon district in the northeastern state of Assam. Photo: Reuters

Pilgrims visiting the famous Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta district which has been opened for the five-day monthly pooja, have been facing difficulties due to incessant rain.

Apart from Idukki and Kozhikode, the IMD has also issued a red alert for Wayanad from July 19 to 22, warning of rain over 20 cm. It has further issued a red alert for Malappuram and Kannur districts for July 19 and Kasargod district for July 20.

Also read: Floods and NRC: A Toss up Between Life and Citizenship

With the southwest monsoon intensifying, the IMD has issued orange and yellow alerts across various districts in the state. A yellow alert has been issued, for example, for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Kasargod districts.

Rajasthan received rainfall ranging from 4 to 10 cm in the past 24 hours, a Met official says. Udaipurwati recorded 10 cm rainfall, followed by 7 cm each in Bhuhana and Nawa, he said.

Barmer was the hottest place in the state with a high of 40.6 degrees Celsius, followed by 40.2 degrees in Jaisalmer, 38.8 degrees in Jodhpur, 37.6 degrees in Bikaner and 35.8 degrees Celsius in Jaipur.

IMD has forecast light to moderate rainfall in parts of the desert state in the next 24 hours.

The maximum temperatures in Haryana and Punjab hovered below the normal limits on Friday.

Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, received light rains and recorded a maximum of 31.5 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal limits.

In Maharashtra, A 70-year-old woman died, while three more sustained injuries in a lightning strike at Alampur village in Buldhana district.

The woman was working on a farm in the village when it started raining. She and some other farm labourers took shelter in a nearby hut when the lightning struck it, police said.

Flood Situation in Assam Worsens: 15 Dead, 43 Lakh People Affected

Assam Ministry of Forest and Environment said about 90% of Kaziranaga National Park is presently inundated.

Guwahati: The situation in Assam deteriorated on Monday as floodwaters submerged 30 of the 33 districts in Assam and death toll increased to 15, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the situation and assured assistance from the Centre.

A total of 42.87 lakh people in 4,157 villages are reeling under the impact of the floods that have submerged 1,53,211 hectares of farm land in 30 districts, according to the daily report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

One death each was reported from Goalpara, Morigaon, Nagaon and Hailakandi districts, taking the toll to 15 so far, it said.

Earlier in the day, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal briefed the prime minister over the phone about the current situation and the relief, rescue and rehabilitation work undertaken by the state government.

Modi assured Sonowal of assistance from the Central government in dealing with the situation, an official said.

The ASDMA report said embankments, roads, bridges, culverts and other infrastructure has been damaged at various places in Sonitpur, Golaghat, Jorhat, Baksa, Dibrugarh, Nalbari, Hojai, Morigaon, Lakhimpur, Darrang, Nagaon, Kamrup, Barpeta, Dhubri, Majuli, Karimganj, Sivasagar, Hailakandi and South Salmara districts, officials said.

Massive erosion has been witnessed in Udalguri, Barpeta and Sonitpur districts.

Brahmaputra has been rising menacingly above the danger level across the state, swelling up in Guwahati and overflowing its banks in the Uzan Bazar area, the officials said.

Sonowal visited the flood-hit Nalbari district and the Solmara flood relief camp on Monday.

Even as the National Disaster Report Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) continued their rescue operations, the Baksa district administration sought the Army’s help to evacuate stranded people in Balipur Char village, which was inundated by the Beki river.

The troops along with civil administration evacuated 150 stranded villagers and shifted them to flood relief shelters in Odalguri village, defence sources said.

An NDRF release said the force rescued more than 2,500 people from flood-affected areas in Baksa, Morigaon, Golaghat, Barpeta and Kamrup districts since July 11.

At present, 15 teams of the NDRF with 38 deep divers, 48 IRB boats and other life-saving aids are deployed, said the release, quoting R.S. Gill, officiating commandant, First Battalion NDRF.

Meanwhile, flood waters have submerged major portions of Kaziranga, Pobitora and Manas rhino habitats, forcing the animals to take shelter in the artificial highlands for safety.

A release by the Assam Ministry of Forest and Environment said about 90% of Kaziranaga National Park is presently inundated.

Though 155 of the 199 anti-poaching camps of the park are affected by flood waters, the staff and security personnel are discharging their duty using mechanised and country boats, it said.

A special rhino protection force has also been deployed in vulnerable locations of the park.

An adult rhino and a calf. Photo: PTI

Bokakhat, through which National Highway-37 passes, has been cut off from the entire upper Assam due to floodwaters, the release said.

The Golaghat district administration has banned movement of vehicles at Numaligarh and diverted traffic towards Guwahati via Diphu and Manja in neighbouring Karbi Anglong district.

Around 70% of the 46 sq km area at Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Morigaon district has also been inundated, forcing one-horned rhinos to venture into the nearby highlands, a forest official said.

The sanctuary near Guwahati has the highest density of Indian one-horned rhinos in the world at over 100.

Ground Report | Cyclone Fani: The Trail of Destruction

The devastating damage to Puri, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Khurda has left millions homeless.

Bhubaneswar: While hosting the Hockey World Cup five months ago, Bhubaneswar was the envy of every visiting tourist that gushed over its tree-lined avenues, new bus stops and walkways, natural green cover, clean residential neighbourhoods wrapping themselves around ancient temples and its neat layout.

Today, the city is heartbroken.

Half of its trees have been uprooted, its lampposts twisted and shattered glass and torn aluminium sheets lie strewn everywhere. Come evening, many parts of the city sink into darkness with no electricity and water. There’s also no network.

Also read: Cyclone Fani: Govt Mounts Massive Restoration Work as Death Toll Rises to 16

Making landfall on the morning of May 3, Cyclone Fani tore through Puri town, home of Lord Jagannath, with speeds reaching more than 200 kmph. The damage can be gauged from the fact that the city’s railway
station will not be operational till May 10, according to the East Coast Railway. And what would be of greater anguish for many Odias are reports of damage to the 12th century Jagannath temple itself.

The untimely tropical cyclone hit Khorda district and capital city Bhubaneswar with far greater intensity than anticipated. It snapped electricity poles, brought down massive cranes and trees, carried the fiberglass dome at AIIMS off with it as well as the railways station’s roof, damaged the Biju Patnaik International Airport and even turned cars turtle inside a city showroom.

The devastating damage to Puri, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Khurda has left millions homeless. With the breakdown of telecom services (with the partial exception of BSNL and Jio), it has been just as stressful for people outside of Odisha to check in on their near and dear ones.

A view of the destruction caused by cyclone Fans in Puri, as seen on May 3, 2019. Credit: PTI

Mass evacuation helped decrease the human causalities. As per official reports, the death toll is at 34 so far.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited Odisha on May 6, announced Rs 1,000 crore relief after an arial survey of the affected area with chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

Also read: Cyclone Fani: Death Toll Rises to 34, CM Patnaik Announces Relief Package

Power infrastructure worth Rs 1,200 crore has been damaged, leaving more than 30 lakh electricity consumers affected in the state, said state energy secretary Hemanta Sharma. He expects these figure to rise after the final assessment.

Efforts to restore power supply to normalcy will take more than one week, according to the government, which has committed to restoring 25% of the power outage in Bhubaneswar in the first phase. This may take longer in Puri, which bore the brunt of the cyclone.

Most households in the state capital depend on borewells, and without electricity there is no water to pump. “Generator suppliers are charging Rs 1,000 for per hour. Sustaining in Bhubaneswar has became really difficult,” said Sandip Mishra, a resident of Sahid Nagar.

The government has deployed 78 water tankers to supply drinking water. It is being pumped from two stations at Palasuni and Bhuasuni – which provide drinking water to 40% areas in the city. The station at Mundali, which provides drinking water to 60% areas of the city, has been badly affected, and is yet to be restored.

All 48 fire services units – comprising of 350 fire fighters – are busy removing trees and restoring access to every part of the city. A problem that the city now faces is that much of its labour workforce, under the circumstances, has headed home. Bhubaneswar is short of manpower to help it get back on its feet – even hotels, restaurants have thin staff.

Also read: Cyclone Fani: Death Toll Rises to 34, CM Patnaik Announces Relief Package

The frustration of being without power and water in summer season has forced many to leave the city. Neha Jha, a guest faculty at Ramadevi University, has moved with her family to Rourkela where her father works. “Water tank and pipes of Manorama apartment near have been broken. With no signs of it being fixed soon, we decided to shift to Rourkela.”

That isn’t an option of Vinay Kumar from Patna, who is studying engineering in the city’s Konark institute. The small apartment he rents has had no electricity or water for two days. His exams are scheduled for the seventh and he isn’t sure if they will be postponed.

A bird’s eye view of the destruction caused by the cyclone, a day after it landfall, as part of the aerial surveillance conducted by the Coast Guard Dornier aircrafts in Puri, on May 4, 2019. Credit: PTI

Digital India is also failing miserably with ATM machines not dispensing money. Diwakar Meher, who was visiting the city from Uttar Pradesh hit every ATM outlet on Janpath Road. “We need money to buy food and water. Most shops are shut, only a few small vendors have opened their stalls and they won’t accept card payment. Any form of online transaction not possible without the internet,” said Meher.

Authorities at the popular Nandanakanan Zoological Park have been forced to shut the zoo indefinitely. There are no reports of loss to animal life, but there has been major damage to the green cover and infrastructure.

Viseswar Basti near Acharya Vihar has lost around 400 slum dwellings. Most of the asbestos and thatched roof houses of this slum have blown away. The homeless residents of the basti are waiting for relief.

Visikesan Sahoo, a 44-year-old auto driver from Dhenkanal who has been living here for the last 25 years says, “90% of the houses in the basti has been damaged. Water supply and electricity are the main things right now. We don’t ask for much, but plastic for our roof and water supply would really help us.”

Prasad Rao, a 55-year-old trolley driver, and his wife S, Padma Rao did better and even took in their neighbours during the cyclone. “Our tin roof managed somehow, but surviving without food and water is difficult.”

Their youngest son was born on the day when in 1999, when a super cyclone Cyclone devastated Odisha killing more than 10,000 people. “My youngest son was born on the day of 1999 cyclone, which is why we call him Batya (which means cyclone). He is studying a diploma course in electronics,” said Rao.

Fani will now leave behind new memories.

Anjali Nayak, 35, sent her children to a shelter home but stayed behind. Within a few hours, Fani had blown most of the houses in the basti leaving everyone devastated, she said. “We are from poor family, it took us years to build a house in Bhubaneswar, but now everything is gone. While we sleep in the open, which makes us feel unsafe and to protect us, our men stand guard.”

After it carried out initial surveys on May 4 and 5, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) began distributing relief materials on May 6. Around one lakh residents in 67 wards have been identified by revenue inspector, and anganwadi workers and their families will get 50 kg rice, Rs 2,000 cash, and Rs 500 to buy polytheme sheets.

Flight passengers wait at NSCBI airport as airlines resume operations following a halt in view of cyclonic storm Fani in Kolkata on May 4, 2019. Credit: PTI

Trains, flights and bus services, which were suspended on May 3, have resumed. The East Coast railway has started special trains from Bhubaneswar from the evening of May 4.

Many tourists who were visiting Puri, Odisha’s main tourist attraction, are stuck in railway stations, hotels and bus terminals waiting to find a way to return home.

Natmal Upadhya and his family reached Puri on May 1 from Rajasthan for a darshan at Jagganath temple. He only found out about Fani after reaching the town, he says. The 16 of them are now stuck in Goudia Math in Puri.

People wade through a flooded street after Cyclone Fani made its landfall, in Puri, Friday, May 3, 2019. Credit: PTI

“Had there been proper coverage about Fani in the national media and advance warning, we could have cancelled our trip,” said Upadhya. “In comparison to local tourists, there are more tourists from other parts of the country visiting Puri. So for their awareness, the arrival of Fani should have been covered properly in Hindi channels in advance and at a regular interval,” he added.

Since then, the family has moved to Bhubaneswar and been waiting at the railway station. “Puri is totally devastated, there is nothing left and it was difficult for us to survive there, without food and water. We have children and senior citizens with us. We will leave for Hyderabad,” he added.

Another tourist, Shrikumar Tiwari, 50, who arrived on May 2, says he took refuge from the cyclone at the station, whose has roof was blown away. “People were really scared on the day when Cyclone hit. But railway officials and police personnel helped everyone in the station. They provided food in the evening. It’s been three days we are still stuck in the station,” said Shrikumar.

Meanwhile, petrol pumps are running out of petrol and diesel and sales are being restricted to a few litres. Most Indian Oil pumps are running out of oil. However, Bharat and Reliance petrol have got a supply of tankers.  Fear of a shortage has resulted in long queues of vehicles at these pumps. However, oil tankers have started arriving at a few petrol pumps on May 5.

With public transportation disrupted, auto drivers have increased their fares. “With no option left, we are compelled to surrender to the high prices charged by auto drivers. When we objected, they said that they are purchasing oil in black,” said Manjuprava Biswal.

Monalisa Patsani is a freelance journalist.