Tag: Rain

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India News

Woman killed as heavy rains batter Himachal

NH 5 has been closed since morning due to a landslide near Broni nullah at Jhakri, following which the connectivity road to Kinnaur has been closed…reports Asian Lite News

A woman was killed while two others were injured due to landslides following heavy rain in the last 24 hours in Himachal Pradesh. Since Tuesday night, incidents of cloudbursts and landslides have been reported at many places in the state.

Landslides occurred in Dhalli area of Shimla as incessant heavy rain continued late on Tuesday night. A young woman sleeping on the roadside was killed due to the landslide, while two others were injured. The injured are being treated at Indira Gandhi Medical College & Hospital (IGMC), Shimla.

As per information, the girls, who are originally from Haryana, sold medicines on the roadside. The deceased has been identified as Kareena (14), while Asha (16) and Kulwinder (14) were injured in the landslide.

A cloudburst was reported from Choj Nala in Manikaran Valley of Kullu district. According to eyewitnesses, property worth crores of rupees, including the bridge built in Choz village and the houses of the people, has been washed away in the rain.

How much damage has been done or how many people have been washed away has not been estimated yet, there is still a flood situation in this area. The administration is waiting for the water to recede.

NH 5 has been closed since morning due to a landslide near Broni nullah at Jhakri, following which the connectivity road to Kinnaur has been closed.

A flash flood has also been reported in Thungi Khad in Morang, Kinnaur. At present, the administration is engaged in relief and rescue work.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday reviewed the administration’s preparedness to tackle various emergency situations arising out of heavy rain in the state with the Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of all the districts through video conferencing from Shimla.

The Chief Minister directed the officers to make foolproof arrangements for managing disasters that are arising due to heavy rains. He said that an adequate number of people and machinery should be deployed in natural calamities-prone areas.

He said, “The rains have increased over the past few days and naturally, there are incidences of landslides, floods and cloudbursts during the rainy season in Himachal Pradesh. One such incident has happened in an area of Kullu district. The information that has been received in the matter is that five people are missing and there has been damage. The camps which were set up by the locals (for the tourists) as well as the tourists, have also been damaged.”

He has directed the administration to take appropriate steps in view of the security at camping sites situated on the banks of rivers in the state. He assured that strict action will be taken against the erring officers involved in the laxity in work related to disaster management. He directed to ensure the availability of Quick Reaction Team and Emergency Operation Centres that would be functional round the clock at the district and sub-division level for disaster management.

He also ordered that the roads affected due to landslides or heavy rains should be repaired immediately.

The Chief Minister also directed the officials to encourage the tourists to take precautions while visiting disaster-prone areas, so that the tourists do not face any inconvenience and their safety can be ensured.

“If an untoward incident is reported, we would rush help to the spot. With the prospect of heavy rainfall in the coming days, there is some risk. We’d stay on high alert so that timely action can be taken,” he added.

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Environment India News

Reservoirs left with water less than last 10 years’ average

None of the reservoirs in the southern region are showing any deficit, not even Kerala that had minus 52 per cent deficit as on June 30…reports Asian Lite News

With the month of June witnessing erratic rainfall resulting in many states receiving deficit rains from the southwest monsoon, over 30 large reservoirs across India have not just lesser water compared to last year, but far less compared to the average of last 10 years.

The Central Water Commission (CWC) monitors 143 reservoirs on a weekly basis. The total live storage as on June 30 was 48.951 billion cubic metres (BCM), which is 86 per cent of last year’s storage and 118 per cent of the average of the last 10 years at the corresponding time. There are six reservoirs that have no live storage.

“The rainfall in June was erratic and the progress was slow. Twice there was a break when there was no advance in the monsoon. However, the last week of June more than compensated with heavy rainfall in the catchments of most of the reservoirs,” said an official from the agency under the Jal Shakti Ministry.

Data from India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed that Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and the UTs of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra, Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu and Ladakh, received deficit rainfall.

As per the CWC, in the northern region, three reservoirs in Himachal Pradesh have more water compared to last year but as much as minus 38 per cent compared to the average of last 10 years. Punjab’s lone reservoir too has a similar story, almost the same quantity of water compared to last year but as much as 37 per cent less compared to the last 10 years’ average.

In the eastern region, six reservoirs in Jharkhand have minus 19 per cent of last 10 years’ average while 10 reservoirs in Odisha have minus 39 per cent of last 10 years’ average water quantity.

In the Central region, Uttarakhand’s three reservoirs have minus 21 per cent less water compared to last 10 years’ average while for eight reservoirs in Uttar Pradesh and four in Chhattisgarh, it is minus 8 per cent of the last 10 years’ average.

Surprisingly, Gujarat and Maharashtra, which were in red (minus 30 and minus 54 per cent deficit) when it came to rainfall for the month of June, had only slightly less water compared to last year but far more than the average of the last 10 years.

None of the reservoirs in the southern region are showing any deficit, not even Kerala that had minus 52 per cent deficit as on June 30.

“Rangawan in Uttar Pradesh, Nanak Sagar in Uttarakhand, Mulshi and Bheema in Maharashtra, Watrak in Gujarat and Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh are the reservoirs that had no live storage as of June 30,” said an official of the CWC.

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India News

East, NE, south peninsular India got excess rainfall in May

The IMD counts every station recording such rainfall in a given 24 hours as one incident…reports Asian Lite News

Thanks to the Cyclone Asani that brought in abundant rain on the east coast and also pushed loads of pre-monsoon showers in the south, there has been excess rainfall over east, northeast and south peninsular India while there was deficient rainfall over northwest and central India in May.

Much of the rain due to the cyclone was in the second and third week of the month.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) data showed that the country as a whole received 129 mm rainfall against 129.3 mm of normal in June, which shows no departure at all.

Northwest India showed the highest deficit with just 41 mm rainfall against the normal of 113.3 mm, showing a departure of minus 64 per cent while central India received 22.6 mm rainfall against 36.6 mm normal, a departure of minus 38 per cent.

On the other hand, east and NE India received 442.7 mm rainfall against the normal of 369.4 mm, showing a departure of plus 20 per cent, while the southern peninsula received 194.5 mm rainfall against 118.4 mm of normal, a departure of plus 64 per cent, IMD data showed.

During the month of May, there were 504 incidents of heavy rainfall (i.e., rainfall between 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm), 95 incidents of very heavy rainfall (115.6 to 204.5 mm), and 23 events of extremely heavy rainfall (more than 204.5 mm).

The IMD counts every station recording such rainfall in a given 24 hours as one incident.

“Most of these extreme rainfall events were recorded in the northeast, which has seen excess rainfall this month,” said IMD’s Director General, Meteorology, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra.

“For May, above normal maximum temperatures over many parts of Northwest India were correctly predicted (by us). Similarly, below normal maximum temperature observed over the remaining part of the country were also predicted correctly,” he said.

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Environment India News

Incessant rains continue to batter NE states, landslides block roads, rail links

Sabyasachi De, CPRO of NFR, said the landslides occurred in 53 locations. The Railways could clear the debris and restore the tracks at 11 locations only…reports Asian Lite News

The situation in the hill section of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has further deteriorated as rain and landslides continued to batter the region, affecting the Lumding-Badarpur route of NFR, an official said on Monday.

The Lumding-Badarpur section in Assam is the only route to connect Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and the southern part of Assam with the rest of the country. This rail link is cut off since three days.

The debris from the hills has completely engulfed the Haflong station. A train on railway tracks fell and got tilted due to landslides. The pictures of this railway station went viral on the social media.

Sabyasachi De, CPRO of NFR, said the landslides occurred in 53 locations. The Railways could clear the debris and restore the tracks at 11 locations only.

De said: “These are the places where landslides happened but the impact was not felt much. However, there are multiple locations where the foundation of the railway tracks got washed away due to landslides. Some of such areas are stretched up to 100 meters making it difficult for the railway staff to restore the track.”

Meanwhile, the Met Department has issued fresh alerts for Assam and Meghalaya.

There is a forecast of further rain in these two states making it difficult for the Railways to plan on the restoration of the train services.

The road connectivity with the above states was also disrupted due to severe landslides in multiple locations in Meghalaya. Thousands of vehicles were stranded on the road as the boulders and mud blocked the national highway.

Superintendent of Police of East Jaintia Hills district, Jagpal Singh said on Monday that vehicles are plying through a one-way route as some of the debris could not be cleared. “There is heavy traffic on the highway,” he added.

The police officer has also warned that further rain can worsen the situation again.

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Environment Environment and WIldlife India News

India captures only 8% of 4K billion cubic meters of rain

Water in community areas was collected and stored in artificial wells. Another method was harvesting monsoon water by diverting water from overflowing streams to be stored in water bodies…reports Pavan Kaushik

Many historians and archaeologists believe that the Indus Valley Civi­lisation that existed about 2,500 years ago mysteriously lost its existence and disappeared suddenly due to catastrophic water scarcity caused either by shifting rivers or by drastic climate change.

In India, a major portion of the population does not have a reliable and constant means of getting water for their daily needs. About 70 per cent of our sources are contaminated and country’s major rivers are dying because of pollution. In June 2019, a report suggested that 65 per cent of all reservoirs in India reported below-normal water levels, and 12 per cent were completely dry.

A NITI Aayog report of 2018 clearly stated that nearly half of India’s population, about 600 million people, is all set to face extreme water stress in coming years. NITI Aayog also estimated that 21 major cities, including Delhi, would run out of groundwater by 2030.

Niti Aayog

With time, India has become the world’s largest extractor of groundwater, accounting for 25 per cent of the total available water. Agriculture consumes over 85 per cent of water in India, contrary to the popular belief that domestic usage or industrial usage captures most of the water. With only 40 per cent assured irrigation, the farmers depend heavily either on rains or on groundwater for their needs.

Surprisingly, the irony is, the demand for water through rains is much less than actual rainfall received during the year. Even though the monsoon season in India extends over four months, and we barely get 30 days of heavy rainfall in all, India has not put-in much required efforts to wishfully capture this abundance of rainwater.

India needs a maximum of 3,000 billion cubic meters (BCM) of water a year while it receives 4,000 billion cubic meters of rains. The country captures only 8 per cent of its annual rainfall, which is amongst the lowest in the world. This also means that rain water harvesting and replenishing the ground water, and also conserving the available water resources seems to be one of the most efficient and doable solution, that has scope and opportunity to resolve water scarcity.

There are many lessons in traditional water harvesting system in India too. One of the most popular rainwater conservation practices has been raindrop conservation. Water from the rooftops was collected during the rains and stored in tanks.

Water in community areas was collected and stored in artificial wells. Another method was harvesting monsoon water by diverting water from overflowing streams to be stored in water bodies.

The traditional procedures for saving water had their own methods too. The PATS of Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh are irrigation panels. These irrigation panels are fed using water that is diverted from fast moving hill streams. Then there is JAUHAD, the earthen check dams that were meant to collect rainwater. Because of their earthen nature, water percolated easily into these systems. This resulted in tremendous rise of the groundwater levels. SANJHA KUWAN are wells built on a partnership basis. With multiple users, these SANJHA KUWAN were primarily used for irrigation.

A group of farmers usually had one made amongst themselves. TALAAB have been very famous in the golden old days and even today. These are reservoirs — natural, as in Bundelkhand, or man-made, as in Udaipur. These reservoirs were used to meet irrigation and drinking water requirements. These constructions lasted only as long as the monsoon. Post-monsoon, the beds of these water bodies were cultivated with rice.

Rajasthan has PAAR, a harvesting practice used in the desert areas of Rajasthan. This involves collecting rainwater from the catchment to let it percolate into the soil.

According to Central Water Commission’s report, India would reach a population of about 1.66 billion by 2050. The annual food requirement will also exceed 250 million tonnes. This also means that demand for water will also increase substantially.

Certainly, we do not want to be a civilization that became extinct just because we could not preserve the most precious natural resource — the Water.

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-Top News Dubai UAE News

UAE to experience rainfall, drop in temperatures

UAE flag

There will be moderate to fresh winds which will be strong at times causing blowing dust and sand over exposed areas…reports Asian Lite News

The UAE is under influence of an extension of an upper air low pressure from the West, accompanied with extension of low pressure from the South West, associated with Southeasterly humid and warm winds with clouds continuing from the west towards the country, according to the National Center of Meteorology.

Dubai

Weather from Thursday to Saturday will be partly cloudy to cloudy with a chance of some convective clouds formation over some areas, especially the northern, eastern and coastal areas, accompanied by rain of different intensity.

From Sunday to Tuesday the upper low pressure deepening, and the weather will be cloudy over most areas of the country, with convective clouds, associated with rain of different intensity at intervals and in different areas with lightning and thunder at times, with a probability of hail on some areas, especially the northern and eastern areas.

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There will be moderate to fresh winds which will be strong at times causing blowing dust and sand over exposed areas.

Sea will be moderate, becoming rough at times in the Arabian Gulf and in Oman Sea especially with clouds.

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India News

Heavy rain, thunderstorms to continue in TN for next 2 days

The weather department also said that Madurai, Virudhunagar and the Cauvery Delta will also witness torrential downpours…reports Asian Lite News.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms will continue in Chennai and almost all other districts of Tamil Nadu in the next two days, the regional centre of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday.

The heavy rain that lashed Chennai and other adjoining areas of the state capital were due to a cyclonic circulation over the southeast Bay of Bengal and the adjoining equatorial Indian Ocean extending up to 4.5 km above sea level.

The IMD has predicted that low pressure may form over the southeast Bay of Bengal and surrounding areas by Tuesday, which will become more pronounced and move in the direction of Tamil Nadu’s northern coast in the next 48 hours.

The interior parts of the state will also receive heavy rain, as well as the isolated places over the Nilgiris, Erode, Krishnagiri and Coimbatore districts.

The weather department also said that Madurai, Virudhunagar and the Cauvery Delta will also witness torrential downpours.

The IMD said that from October 1 to November 7, Chennai has received 26 per cent surplus rain and the state as a whole witnessed 43 per cent more downpour than the usual volume.

Heavy rain in a short time frame is called mesoscale phenomenon and this cannot be predicted easily, the IMD said.

PM, Stalin hold talks

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has declared a public holiday on Monday following heavy rains and inundation in several parts of the state including Chennai.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also called Stalin and promised all help for the people of the state.

The Prime Minister, in a tweet, said: “Spoke to Tamil Nadu CM, Thiru@mkstalin and discussed the situation in the wake of heavy rainfall in parts of the state. Assured all possible support from the Centre in rescue and relief work. I pray for everyone’s well-being and safety”.

Stalin thanked the Prime Minister.

“Thank you Hon’ble PM @narendramodi. Had discussed about TN having exhausted State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) for 2020-21 towards COVID relief and requested to release funds from National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) of Union Government for this cyclone season,” he tweeted.

Chennai is reeling under heavy rains with water entering houses in low-lying areas and several people are shifted to rehabilitation camps. Meanwhile, four companies of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are deployed in Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvallur districts.

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-Top News PAKISTAN

Heavy rains wreak havoc in Islamabad

A vehicle moves through a flooded street following heavy rain on the outskirts of northwest Pakistan's Peshawar

The torrential rain in Islamabad and its twin city Rawalpindi inundated many low-lying areas and main roads, creating immense difficulties for the residents….reports Asian Lite News

Heavy rains wreaked havoc in Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad, killing at least two people while injuring several others, officials said.

Several buildings, shops and vehicles were damaged due to the heavy downpour in the affected areas, Xinhua news agency reported citing the official as saying on Wednesday.

The torrential rain in Islamabad and its twin city Rawalpindi inundated many low-lying areas and main roads, creating immense difficulties for the residents.

The heavy rain accompanied by strong winds also uprooted trees and destroyed makeshift shelters.

Electricity supply in several areas of the twin cities remained suspended.

Rescue and relief operations are being carried out by rescuers.

Commenting on the situation in the federal capital, the country’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad said that the Pakistani Army and other local authorities are present in various areas to deal with any emergency condition.

Speaking with Xinhua, Sayed Munawar Shah, a senior official of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), said that heavy machinery and trained staff have been deployed to clear major roads and restore traffic.

He said that excessive water and debris are being removed in several localities.

“Most of the locations and avenues have been cleared and efforts are underway to clear the remaining areas.”

Meanwhile, for a second consecutive day, Pakistan recorded more than 4,000 new Covid-19 cases, which increased the overall infection tally to 1,020,324, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said on Thursday.

The NCOC, the department leading Pakistan’s campaign against the pandemic, said that a total of 4,497 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours, reports Xinhua news agency.

A total of 23,209 people have died of the disease, including 76 patients who died over the last 24 hours, it added.

According to a statement by the NCOC, the country’s Sindh province has been the worst hit, with a total of 374,434 cases, followed by Punjab with 354,904 infections.

Pakistan has administered 27,875,999 doses of Covid-19 vaccine so far.

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More intense storms expected across Europe due to climate change


The scientists estimate that these slow-moving storms may be 14 times more frequent across land by the end of the century…reports Asian Lite News.

Climate change is driving a large increase in intense, slow-moving storms, a new study has found.

Investigating how climate affects intense rainstorms across Europe, climate experts have shown there will be a significant future increase in the occurrence of slow-moving intense rainstorms.

The scientists estimate that these slow-moving storms may be 14 times more frequent across land by the end of the century. It is these slow-moving storms that have the potential for very high precipitation accumulations, with devastating impacts, as currently seen in Germany and Belgium.

Researchers from the Newcastle University and the UK Met Office Hadley Centre used very detailed climate model simulations and found that slower storm movement acts to increase the amount of rainfall that accumulates locally, increasing the risk of flash floods across Europe beyond what has been expected based on previous studies.

Published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the study results show that storms producing intense rain may move slower with climate change, increasing the duration of exposure to these extremes.

“Governments across the world have been too slow in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and global warming continues apace. This study suggests that changes to extreme storms will be significant and cause an increase in the frequency of devastating flooding across Europe. This, alongside the current floods in Europe, is the wake-up call we need to produce improved emergency warning and management systems, as well as implementing climate change safety factors into our infrastructure designs to make them more robust to these severe weather events,” said Hayley Fowler, Professor at Newcastle ‘s School of Engineering.

Belgium flood

The study findings are relevant to climate mitigation and adaptation policy in Europe, with specific implications for future flooding impacts, the design of infrastructure systems, and the management of water resources.

Currently, almost stationary intense rainstorms are uncommon in Europe and happen rarely over parts of the Mediterranean Sea. Accurate predictions of future changes in intense rainfall events are key to putting effective adaptation and mitigation plans in place to limit the adverse impacts of climate change.

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Environment India News

Torrential rains clobber Mumbai, paralyse traffic, trains

Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray, who is Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister, said the situation is being closely monitored…reports Asian Lite News.

Massive rains pounded Mumbai — in many places measuring over 20 cms (200 mm), paralysing road and rail traffic, all through the night, officials said here on Sunday.

The Western Railway suburban services were stopped completely due to flooding on tracks at most places in the city and surrounding and many outstation trains were stuck at various locations.

There was waist-deep water in some parts with water entering ground floor homes or buildings in many low-lying areas.

The downpour, which started after midnight, continued virtually non-stop and led to waterlogging or flooding in most parts of the city and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation said its rain guages recorded over a staggering 157mm (15.7 cms) in the south Mumbai, 14 cms in eastern suburbs and 13 cms in western suburbs.

The Maharashtra government, BMC and the coastal Konkan districts of Ratnagiri, Raigad, Palghar, Thane and Raigad are on high alert with the Disaster Management Units in readiness for any eventuality.

Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray, who is Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister, said the situation is being closely monitored.

“As of 3 a.m., rainfall measured by IMD. Some places have crossed 200 mm now.A Mumbai has faced an extremely intense system of precipitation accompanied by thundering. The BMC pumps are operational and officers are on ground,” Thackeray said.

According to KS Hosalikar, Head SID, Climate & Research Services, Pune, said: “Extremely Heavy rainfall realized so far and severe floodings observed due to very very intense spell in a very short time.”

The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in Mumbai during the day.

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