New Delhi, Apr 17 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed grief at the loss of lives due to unseasonal rains and storms in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Manipur and various parts of the country and announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of those who lost their lives.

”We stand in solidarity with all those affected due to unseasonal rainfall and storms in various parts of the country,” the Prime Minister wrote in a series of tweets.

The government is doing its best to provide all possible assistance to those affected and the situation is being monitored closely, Mr Modi said.

An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of those who lost their lives due to unseasonal rain and storms in MP, Rajasthan, Manipur and various parts of the country has been approved from the PM’s National Relief Fund, he said.

The Prime Minister has also approved Rs 50,000 each for those injured in storm related incidents.

”The government is doing its best to provide all possible assistance to those affected. The situation is being monitored closely,” according to the statement.
”Anguished by the loss of lives due to unseasonal rains and storms in various parts of Gujarat. My thoughts are with the bereaved families,” Mr Modi said.

Authorities are monitoring the situation very closely, he said, adding that all possible assistance is being given to those affected.

At least 25 people have died due to unseasonal rain and dust storm in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and other parts of the country on Tuesday.

Colombo, Apr 9 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Center said on Tuesday that the number of people affected by the severe dry weather conditions prevailing across the island country had risen to over 321,000.

The worst affected districts are Vavuniya and Jaffna in the north, Puttalam in the North Western province and Kegalle in the Sabaragamuwa Province.

The Disaster Management Center said the lack of rains, especially in the mountainous areas, had resulted in a severe water shortage.

Assistant Director of the Disaster Management Center Pradeep Kodippili said officials were continuing to send water bowsers into the areas to supply fresh water to the families.

Kodippili said people were also advised to remain cautious and stay indoors due to the extreme weather conditions.

The Meteorology Department, in its latest weather update, said hot weather conditions are likely to rise further in the coming days but temporary showers could also be expected.

Temperatures are expected to rise to as high as 41 degrees Celsius.

Kohima, Apr 4 : A moderate earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 Richter Scale struck the Myanmar-India Border Region today around 1.15 PM and the epicenter is located 25.4?N latitude and 94.3?E longitude at the depth of 50 kms and located at about 25 km from Phek town in Nagaland.

According to the preliminary report by India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that the tremor was felt across the North East region of India including Nagaland and the affected countries are Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan, but there were no immediate reports of any casualties.

The United States Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.3 with depth of 63.1 km and centered at South-Southwest (SSW) of Phek District in Nagaland. The tremors were felt in Kohima, Dimapur and district headquarters too and people were rushed out of their respective houses for panic. Some people took to Twitter and other social media platforms to share images and videos of the tremor.

UNI

Bengaluru, Apr 1 : Following is a summary of observations recorded in Meteorological centre here at 0830 hrs on Monday.
rainfall occurred at a few places over north interior Karnataka and at isolated places over coastal Karnataka. Dry weather prevailed over south interior Karnataka.
Chief rainfall amounts: Mudgal 4, Hubbali, Hungund, Ilkal, Vijayapura, Alamatti 2 each and Dharwad 1.
Kalaburgi recorded the highest maximum temperature of 42 dc in the state.
Forecast valid until Wednesday Morning: Rain/thundershowers likely to occur at isolated places over the state. Dry weather very likely to prevail over the state.
Forecast for Bengaluru city: Mainly clear sky. Maximum and Minimum temperatures very likely to be around 36 and 21 dc respectively.

Almatti, Karnataka, Mar 29 : Good news for Drought prone Hyderabad-Karnataka and Mumbai Karnataka districts including Vijanypura, Bagalkot, Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Koppal districts, for the first time since last one decade, the Almatti Reservoir, the lifeline of the region, has the highest and sufficient water storage for this year, According to Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd (KBJNL).
The KBJNL sources on Friday said that the current water level in the Reservoir is 511.520 Meter and Reservoir which can store 123.081 tmcft water has 39.395 tmcft water storage. Of this 20.395 tmcft would be the live storage. Last year during the same month, the live storage recorded was just 9 tmcft. The storage of water has increased confidence of people of the region especially acute drinking water crisis faced in Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Koppal districts. Considering the drinking water position in these district the water was not released for second crop cultivation in the command area. Thus the storage remained sufficient for summer.
The water level in The reservoir used to dip to the dead storage level of 506.82 MT during every summer . But this year it would not deplete so much as proper precaution was taken to stock the water. The Inflow of the reservoir had stopped on September 15, 2018. Therefore, a change was brought in the system of water release from Kharif crops itself, the sources added.
The water was released to the canals every day till the reservoir received good inflow. When the inflow stopped, the water release to the canal was continued but on the weekly rotation system .
The KBJNL Officials said that for drinking purpose they have released water to Narayanpur reservoir from last three days and the out flow recorded today was 1389 cusec.

Bengaluru, Mar 26 : Following is a summary of observations recorded by the
weather office at 0830 hours on Tuesday.

Rainfall occurred at a few places over Coastal Karnataka and North Interior Karnataka
and at isolated places over South Interior Karnataka.
Rainfall amounts (in cm): S Sankeshwar 7, Hubballi 4, Kiravatti, Manchiikeri, Belgavi,
Nippani, Chincholi 2 each, Londda, Hukkeri, Kalaburgi 1 each.

Ballari recorded the highest Maximum temperature of 41 degree Celsius in the State.
Davangere recorded the lowest minimum temperature of 18 degree Celsius in the
plains of the State.
Forecast valid upto Wednesday morning: Rain/thundershowers likely to occur
at isolated places over the State.

Forecast for Bengaluru city: Mainly clear sky. Maximum and Minimum temperatures
very likely to be around 35 and 21 degree Celsius respectively.

Fire at Turahalli forest in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Coping with the massive destruction of precious flora by the forest fire across Karnataka, the Karnataka Forest Department was on Wednesday yet again confronted with multiple incidents of the forest fire in Bengaluru.

The Turahalli Reserve Forest area within the Hemmigepura ward limits in Southern Bengaluru reported fire incidents. However, the timely intervention by the neighbourhood residents welfare associations and Fire brigade averted a major disaster as the raging fire was put out after a relentless fire fighting exercise.

The vigilant residents inhabiting the areas abutting the undulating boundary of Turahalli forest on Wednesday morning alerted the forest department officials about the fires. Soon, fire was spotted at many places and brought to the notice of the officials. Citizens revealed this was the third time that they were spotting fire in less than four weeks. The locals, especially the apartment dwellers, helped the fire brigade replenish their fire tenders by allowing access to the water tanks.

Nasheman News, Bengaluru :  The Supreme Court upheld the National Green Tribunal order to clear encroachments around Bengaluru’s largest Bellandur lake, said petitioner and BJP Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday.

“The dismissal of the appeal to quash the Tribunal order of May 4, 2016 means defendants Mantri Tech Zone and Coremind Software Services have to pay Rs 117.5 crore and Rs 13.5 crore respectively, demolish structures and vacate over 3 acres of encroached area in the lake catchment area,” said Chandrasekhar in a statement from Delhi. 

His Namma Bengaluru Foundation moved the NGT in March 2014 and the top court subsequently to save the lake and its wetlands from rampant encroachments and pollution.

Located in the city’s southeast suburb, the lake is spread over 148 square kilometres.

“Mantri Tech Zone, a leading real estate developer, will also have to re-build the storm water drainage, which was diverted to make way for the illegal construction,” Chandrasekhar said.

His foundation has been fighting since 2014 for reclaiming the lake’s catchment area from vested interests, including land sharks.

“The battle to save the lake was a David versus Goliath legal fight in the green bench and the apex court against builders supported by the state government. By upholding the Tribunal order, the top court cracked the builder-politico nexus that was looting Bengaluru and the lake,” he alleged.

Accusing the state government of having nexus with contractors and builders exploiting the city, Chandrasekhar claimed the desperate attempts to get the Tribunal order quashed by the top court exposes the JD-S-Congress coalition government’s support to the realtors.

The defendants, however, did not respond to queries on the apex court order against them.

Nasheman News : At least 22 people were killed in the US state of Alabama as a cluster of storms ripped through the country’s Southeast region, spawning multiple tornadoes and leaving a trail of destruction.

The first tornado warning in central Alabama went out at around 1 p.m. on Sunday. As the storms pushed east, the tornadoes left a path of destruction that stretched from Alabama into Florida and Georgia, reports The New York Times. 

The reported deaths were all in Lee County, Alabama, where two tornadoes, one at least a half-mile wide, wrecked homes and uprooted trees. 

The East Alabama Medical Centre in Opelika had received more than 60 patients as of Sunday night, said John Atkinson, a spokesman for the centre. He said the conditions of the patients varied.

President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Sunday night that people in and around Alabama should “be careful and safe”.

“Tornadoes and storms were truly violent and more could be coming… To the families and friends of the victims, and to the injured, God bless you all.”

In Georgia, one tornado on Sunday damaged dozens of homes and businesses.

Meredith Wyatt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, said the strong line of storms moved quickly across the area on Sunday afternoon.

She said it was unclear how many tornadoes touched down but said the service issued at least six warnings on Sunday afternoon.

The service will send teams on Monday to survey the damage to determine the path of the tornadoes, their intensity and how long they stayed on the ground.

In 2011, 230 people were killed after more than 60 tornadoes hit Alabama.

S An earthquake measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale hit Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district on Friday, an official said. There was no loss of life.

Tremors were felt for some seconds in several areas at 11.40 a.m., an official of the meteorological office told IANS. The epicentre was Chamba, bordering Jammu and Kashmir.