Schools and colleges have been shut in the coastal districts of Karnataka on Saturday due to heavy monsoon rains lashing the region, officials said.

The coastal districts of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and south interior districts of Kodagu, Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru have been receiving heavy rainfall over the last few days due to an active Southwest monsoon in the state.

“All the schools and colleges in the district were given a holiday on Saturday as a precautionary measure due to heavy rains,” an official from Dakshina Kannada district Deputy Commissioner’s office told IANS over phone.

According to the data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the coastal districts of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada received an average of over seven cm rainfall.

The Southwest monsoon, which set in the southern state on June 4, has been causing widespread rains in coastal and south interior regions, IMD Bengaluru centre’s forecast-in-charge C.S. Patil told IANS earlier.

The pre-monsoon rains, accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds, wrecked havoc in the state inundating low-lying areas, uprooting trees and snapping power lines and damaging roads in coastal, central and south interior districts over the last week.

The Met Office has also issued heavy rainfall alert in the coastal districts over the next few days.

“Sea condition is likely to be rough to very rough over the Arabian Sea. Fishermen are advised to be cautious while venturing into sea off the Karnataka coast,” an IMD advisory said.

Moderate to heavy rainfall is likely to continue over coastal districts and south interior districts, it added.

The state capital Bengaluru has received light rainfall measuring upto three mm till 8.30 a.m. on Saturday. The weather office predicts light rainfall to continue in the city over the next few days.

Several parts across the west coast of India can expect heavy spells of the shower in the coming weekend as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted an increase in the rainfall activity over coastal Karnataka, Goa and south Maharashtra till 10 June.

Mumbai, along with Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg districts in Maharashtra, is expected to receive rainfall at most places on Saturday, according to the IMD. Extremely heavy rainfall (above 204.5 millimeters) is expected at isolated places in these areas, but the intensity is likely to decrease on Sunday.

That there are chances of strong winds which may cause trees to uproot and fall in the city.

A water-logged street after heavy rains in Mumbai on Thursday. Reuters

The official date of arrival for monsoon in Mumbai is 10 June. Quoting an official,

Fishermen have been advised to not venture into east central Arabian Sea off Konkan and Goa coasts as well as west central and adjoining southwest the Arabian Sea off Somalia coast during till 12 June.

“Squally winds speed reaching 40­ to 50 kilometers per hour gusting to 60 kilometers per hour is very likely along and off Kerala­, Karnataka­, Maharashtra coasts and also over the north Bay of Bengal. Sea condition is likely to be rough to very rough over east central, west-central and southwest Arabian Sea and North Bay of Bengal,” the IMD said in its weather bulletin for Friday.

South Konkan, Goa, and coastal Karnataka are likely to receive “heavy to very heavy rain”, with extremely heavy rain “very likely” at isolated places on Friday. “Heavy to very heavy rain” is also very likely at isolated places over central Maharashtra and north interior Karnataka; heavy rain at isolated places over the sub-Himalayan range, West Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha, Marathwada, Telangana, south interior Karnataka, and Kerala.

A thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds and lightning is very likely at isolated places over Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema region and Tamilnadu on Friday. Heat wave conditions are very likely at one or two pockets over Rajasthan.

The Meteorological department in Kolkata said a low pressure being formed in the Bay of Bengal will advance the Southwest Monsoon in West Bengal and Odisha from Saturday.

The low pressure is likely to intensify into a depression by Saturday and move north-northwestwards across West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts, the Met department said.

Meanwhile, the Met office in Delhi predicted a possibility of thundery developments on Thursday night and early Friday morning. The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover around 40° Celsius and 30° Celsius respectively.

Seven people have died in Rajasthan since Tuesday in rain-related incidents. Of the seven, three died when a portion of their house collapsed due to strong wind and rain on Tuesday evening. Others were struck by lightning,

In Himachal Pradesh, the local Met office has warned of a thunderstorm with gusty winds in lower and mid hills on Friday and Saturday.

The Southwest Monsoon is currently active over Kerala with heavy rains lashing the southern state. Widespread rainfall is likely to continue in the state during the next five days, K Santosh, in-charge of India Meteorological Department, Thiruvananthapuram.

Mumbai prepares to face heavy rains

Mumbai received its first heavy rainfall of this monsoon on Thursday as the Mumbai civic body is preparing itself to tackle monsoon-related incidents such as waterlogging.

Leaves of all the senior officials, including deputy municipal commissioners, have been canceled and they have been asked to be available in their headquarters on Saturday and Sunday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.

The regional meteorological center in Mumbai advised the people to abstain from outdoor activities as much as possible during the period.

In a statement, the BMC said three teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will be stationed at Parel, Mankhurd (for eastern suburbs) and Andheri Sports Complex (for western suburbs). Navy personnel will also be deployed in Colaba, Worli, Ghatkopar, Trombay, and Malad for flood rescue if required.

More than 600 homes have been destroyed by the Kilauea volcano eruption in Hawaii in more than a month since lava began flowing, confirmed a top official.

Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim on Thursday said the homes were destroyed in three days at Vacationland and Kapoho Beach Lots in Pahoa, including the Mayor’s own house in Vacationland, Xinhua news agency reported.

Pahoa is a major community in the county with a population of roughly 1,000 people.

“It hurts like hell. What we lost is the most beautiful place on earth. Over 600 homes destroyed by lava rivers in Hawaii. The past few days have got to be one of the saddest in the long life that I’ve experienced,” Kim said.

He pledged that officials at the state and federal levels will work as a team to cope with the disaster, “eliminate all the bureaucracy delays”, and “get it done as soon as possible”.

Hawaii governor David Ige said the state will allocate $12 million to help respond to the eruption, covering expenses ranging from overtime work to food and equipment.

He added that county employees have been working round-the-clock for almost 40 days.

“I don’t think any of us knew it would get to this point,” Ige said. “Obviously things in the last few days have escalated significantly with Fissure 8 continuing to put out a lot of lava. It certainly has escalated the impact and devastation of the area.”

Kilauea volcano has been erupting nearly continuously for about five weeks now.

The volcano is one of the youngest and most active volcanoes in the world. It is a shield-type volcano that makes up the southeastern side of the Big Island of Hawaii.

The death toll from the eruption of the Fuego volcano in Guatemala on June 3 has increased to 109 after another 10 bodies were found, according to authorities.

On Thursday, the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) said that seven of the bodies found were transferred to the morgue of Hunahpu village, in the south of Escuintla Department, and the three others to the central morgue in the capital, reports Efe news.

Thursday morning the spokesperson of the Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction, David De Leon, announced the temporary suspension of the rescue operation due to bad weather conditions.

The INACIF said that two more casualties were identified on Thursday, an eight-year-old boy and a woman whose age is unknown.

So far, a total of 28 victims have been identified.

The strong eruption of the volcano and the constant volcanic activity has affected some 1.7 million people, 12,407 were evacuated, 7,393 transferred to hospitals, 4,137 are living in shelters, 197 are reported missing and 58 were injured, according to data from the relief agencies.

A state of disaster has been declared for the southern departments of Escuintla, Sacatepequez, and Chimaltenango, which suffered the most.

According to volcanologists, eruption records of Fuego volcano, one of the country’s most active volcanoes, dates back to 1542.

At its fiercest, the volcano could spray ash all the way to Guatemala’s southern neighbours of El Salvador and Honduras.

Maharashtra tops e-waste generator but has only 32 recycling unit

Despite the government’s emphasis on Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan and Smart Cities project, India continues to be generating highest e-waste vis-à-vis China, USA, Japan and Germany, an ASSOCHAM-NEC recent study noted.

In India, Maharashtra contributes the largest e-waste of 19.8% but recycles only about 47,810 TPA (tonnes per annum) whereas as its counterparts Tamil Nadu (13%) recycles about 52,427, Uttar Pradesh (10.1%) recycles about 86,130, West Bengal (9.8%), Delhi (9.5%), Karnataka (8.9%), Gujarat (8.8%) and Madhya Pradesh (7.6), noted the joint study.

The global volume of e-waste generated is expected to reach 52.2 million tons or 6.8 kg/ inhabitant by 2021 from 44.7 million tons in 2016 at a compound annual growth rate of 20 percent, according to a study on ‘Electricals and Electronics Manufacturing in India,’ conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)-NEC joint study.

Out of the total e-waste produced in 2016, only 20% (8.9 MT) is documented to be collected properly and recycled, while there is no record of the remaining e-waste. The quantity of e-waste generated worldwide is expected to grow at a rate of 3.15 % (CAGR), due to which the estimate for the year 2018 has risen to 47.55 MT, noted the joint study.

The total value of all raw materials present in e-waste is estimated at approximately USD 61.05 billion in 2016, which is more than the GDP of most countries in the world, pointed out the joint study.

E-waste generated in India is about 2 million TPA (tonnes per annum), the quantity that is recycled is about 4,38,085 TPA. In states like Karnataka has 57 units with a capacity to process nearly 44,620 tonnes; Maharashtra has 32 units that can process 47,810 tonnes; Uttar Pradesh has 22 units to process 86,130 tonnes; Haryana has 16 units to process 49,981 tonnes. Tamil Nadu has 14 (52,427 in metric tons per annum), Gujarat has 12 units (37,262) whereas Rajasthan has 10 units (68,670) and Telangana has 4 units to process 11,800 metric tons per annum respectively.

The sad part is that a mere 5% of India’s total e-waste gets recycled due to poor infrastructure, legislation and framework which lead to a waste of diminishing natural resources, irreparable damage of environment and health of the people working in the industry. Over 95% of e-waste generated is managed by the unorganized sector and scrap dealers in this market, dismantle the disposed of products instead of recycling it.

E-waste typically includes discarded computer monitors, motherboards, Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT), Printed Circuit Board (PCB), mobile phones and chargers, compact discs, headphones, white goods such as Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)/ Plasma televisions, air conditioners, refrigerators and so on.

High and prolonged exposure to these chemicals/ pollutants emitted during unsafe e-waste recycling leads to damage of nervous systems, blood systems, kidneys and brain development, respiratory disorders, skin disorders, bronchitis, lung cancer, heart, liver, and spleen damage.

The current rate of e-waste generation in India is 4.56 times greater than the annual e-waste processing capacity offered by the nation, which leads to improper and illegal dumping/ disposal of the hazardous e-waste, which further leads to environmental and health hazards, reveals the paper.

This includes 2 million tonnes generated in India, which has one of the fastest growing electronics industries in the world. Besides, electronics import also adds to waste. India’s e-waste production is likely to touch three million tonnes by the end of 2018.

E-waste includes all forms of waste products containing as a manufacturing component that run on either battery or power supply. It may include general consumer electronics, such as TV appliances, computer, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, white goods and also, industrial grade electronics, such as telecommunication systems, instrumentation systems and electronic machinery.

As Indians become richer and spend more electronic items and appliances, Computer equipment accounts for almost 70% of e-waste material followed by telecommunication equipment (12%), electrical equipment (8%) and medical equipment (7%). Other equipment, including household e-crap account for the remaining 4%, it said.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

A light intensity earthquake occurred in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday with no report of any casualty or damage to property.

An official of the MET department said the earthquake, measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale, struck at 12.21 p.m.

“The epicentre of quake was on the Kashmir-Xinjiang border,” the official said.

The MeT department has forecast heavy to very heavy rain in Maharashtra, especially in the coastal Konkan region, from today till Monday.

Rapid rise likely in water and levels of rivers in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala.

Rainfall Forecast issued by India Meteorological Department (IMD) indicate that Heavy to Very Heavy rainfall is likely at a few places with extremely heavy fall at isolated places over Konkan and Goa, Madhya Maharashtra during June 07 to 12.

Heavy to Very Heavy rainfall is also likely to occur over Coastal Karnataka tomorrow and throughout Karnataka during 9 June to June 11. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is also likely to occur at isolated places over Kerala during June 09 to June 10.

Due to this warning, there is likelihood of rise in water levels in various river basins such as West Flowing rivers Between Tapi and Tadri, Godavari and its tributaries near the west coast, Krishna and its tributaries near west coast, Cauvery and its tributaries near west coast as well as in West flowing rivers between Tadri and Kanyakumari.

Due to the forecast of very heavy rains in and around Mumbai and advance of Southwest monsoon causing tidal waves, there is likelihood of inundation in some of the heavy rainfall affected urban areas of Mumbai City.

Rivers having source in Western Ghats and flowing into Arabian Sea may witness flash floods in association with the forecasted rainfall. Since most of the rivers are dry, necessary precautions to control the activities along the river bed may be taken as flow may increase suddenlydrowning men and materials.

Due to the expected rainfall, River Damanganga and its tributaries are expected to rise in Nasik district of Maharashtra, Valsad district of Gujarat and Daman district in Daman and Diu Union Territory. Since most of the rivers are dry, necessary precautions to control the activities along the river bed may be taken as flow may increase suddenly drowning men and materials.

River Godavari is likely to rise in Upstream reaches in district of Nasik, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad district. Since almost all the dams are in very low level, this rain may give inflows into various upstream reservoirs. River Krishna and its tributaries are likely to rise in upstream districts of Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Pune, Sholapur in Maharashtra as well as in Bagalkote, Vijayapura and Kalaburagi districts on Krishna and in Chikmagaluru, Shivamogga and Bellari districts on river Tungabhadra in Karnataka. Since almost all the dams are in very low level, this rain may give inflows into various upstream reservoirs.

Rivers flowing West into Arabian Sea south of Tapi in Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka are also likely to rise and inundate areas in Raigad, Thane, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra and in Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts in Karnataka. Traffic along the old road and rail bridges in Konkan Railway along these river reaches have to be regulated accordingly.

River Cauvery and its tributaries in upstream reaches in Kodagu, Chikmagaluru, Hassan and Mysuru districts of Karnataka and Wynad district of Kerala are likely to rise in association with the forecasted rainfall. However, as the dams in the basins have sufficient storageand hence the expected rainfall may give some inflows into these reservoirs depending on the severity of the rainfall.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

The death toll from the eruption of the highly active Fuego volcano in Guatemala has increased to 99 as more bodies were found, according to authorities.

The remains of the 99 people have been sent to the morgues, while just 28 have been identified so far, Guatemala’s National Forensic Sciences Institute (INACIF) announced on Wednesday.

“We already have data with names and locations where there are missing persons and that number is 192,” said Sergio Cabanas, head of Guatemala’s disaster management agency.

Explosions boomed from the 3,763-metre volcano Wednesday, unleashing a new flow of dangerous volcanic material and forcing the rescuers to suspend the search for victims, Xinhua news agency reported.

Experts also warned that heavy rains in the area could provoke avalanches due to the large flows of volcanic mud.

Fuego volcano exploded around noon on June 3, affecting more than 1.7 million people.

A state of disaster has been declared for the southern departments of Escuintla, Sacatepequez, and Chimaltenango, which suffered the most.

“The conditions are critical in the areas near Fuego volcano,” said Eddy Sanchez, Director of the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology, adding that initial eruption was the most violent explosion since 1974.

According to volcanologists, eruption records of Fuego volcano, one of the country’s most active volcanoes, dates back to 1542.

At its fiercest, the volcano could spray ash all the way to Guatemala’s southern neighbours of El Salvador and Honduras.

The toll from the eruption of the highly active Fuego volcano in Guatemala has increased to 69 with over 1 million residents affected, according to authorities.

The volcano erupted Sunday, spewing a river of lava and plumes of smoke almost 6 miles into the air. Seventeen of the dead have been identified so far, CNN quoted Guatemala’s Institute of Forensic Sciences as saying late Monday.

Fifteen people, including 12 children, have been hospitalised, some of whom suffered severe burns, the Health Ministry said.

Volcanic ash has already stretched across a 12-mile radius, and winds could carry the cloud even farther, officials said.

President Jimmy Morales has declared three days of national mourning.

So far, over 3,100 people have been evacuated and 1.7 million people have been affected by the eruption, according to CONRED, the government agency for disaster reduction.

Satellite footage of Fuego shows the massive dark gray eruption was visible even from space.

Authorities urged residents living near the volcano to evacuate immediately, and warned some in Chimaltenango, Sacatepequez and Escuintla states to watch out for volcanic rocks and ash.

The National Institute of Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology on Monday warned that there could be new eruptions, and residents in the surrounding areas should be on alert for mudslides containing volcanic material.

Fuego’s eruption is much bigger than Hawaii’s Kilauea eruption, which terrorised Big Island on May 3.

Unlike the Hawaii volcano, which has destroyed homes with slow-moving lava, the Fuego volcano unleashed fast-moving pyroclastic flow — a mix of ash, rock and volcanic gases that can be much more dangerous than lava, CNN reported.

Pyroclastic flows can race down a volcano at hundreds of kilometers per hour — much faster than people or even cars.

Guatemala is situated on the “Ring of Fire,” an area of intense seismic activity.

The 40,000-km area stretches from the boundary of the Pacific Plate and the smaller plates such as the Philippine Sea plate to the Cocos and Nazca Plates that line the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

Volcan de Fuego, which means fire volcano, is one of Central America’s most active.

United Nations Environment head Erik Solheim believes that only India can help itself when it comes to “Beat Plastic Pollution” — this year’s theme of World’s Environment Day that the country is hosting — or to rustle up the finances for this.

With the United States working on its way to quit the historic Paris Climate Agreement, Solheim says it’s just the right time for India and China — among the world’s top polluters — to lead the world in the war against climate change and pollution.

“First of all, only India can change India. Indian political leaders and its people can change India,” Solheim told IANS in an interview.

“But we can help,” he continued, adding that despite being in a desperate situation to work upon its solid waste management, the world can still learn from India and India can learn from China and vice versa.

India produces over 62 million tonnes of solid waste every year, of which only 43 million tonnes is collected, only 12 million tonnes treated and the rest dumped. According to the experts, the figure is expected to rise to 436 million tonnes by 2050.

“There is a huge issue of waste management in India and everyone can see that; we went from train to Agra from Delhi and we saw. There was plastic all over the rails, that’s a problem,” he said, highlighting the “big need” to manage that.

Speaking of plastic waste alone, approximately 900,000 tonnes of PET — used to make soft drink bottles, furniture, carpet, paneling, etc. — was produced in India in 2015-16, as reported by the National Chemical Laboratory.

About 25,000 tonnes of plastic waste is generated evey year in India, of which only 60 per cent, according to Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan, is recycled. Delhi with 689.52 tonnes tops the chart of plastic waste followed by Chennai (429.39 tonnes), Mumbai (408.27 tonnes), Bengaluru (313.87 tonnes) and Hyderabad (199.33 tonnes).

Solheim, however, was optimistic about India and counts on the initiative taken by the country’s political leaders. According to business analysts, Indian waste management Industry has a potential of $15 billion with promising growth prospects.

“To tackle the situation, you need to see how these problems were resolved in the past. For instance, we resolved the biggest global environment problem of 1980s — the hole in the ozone layer. At that time also political leaders and businesses bought us the solutions,” he pointed out.

Appreciating China for cleaning its rivers, Solheim highlighted the scope of learning for India. “If China can do that then India can do that in Ganga and other rivers,” he added.

Pointing to the International Solar Alliance, Kochi airport, which is the world’s first solar-powered airport, and the world’s biggest solar power plant in Tamil Nadu, Solheim believed that the world can learn much from India.

“We can provide the best Indian practices to the world and can bring best practices from the world to India,” he noted.

Asked about the polluting images of India and China he lauded the two nations for working towards solutions.

“India and China, frankly speaking, are in the lead of solving their environment issues, obviously there had been challenges,” he said.

“China has been cleaning its rivers like no other nation in human history. They have reduced pollution in Beijing by 30 to 40 percent. Similarly in India, city of Hyderabad has been declared plastic-free and soon the area around the Taj Mahal will also be,” he said.

Drawing parallels between the issues of India and China — traffic and vehicular pollution — he pointed out how China had built Metro rails in 35 cities in the last 10 years and has also emerged as the biggest market for electric vehicles, adding that given the trajectory of its growth, India will catch up very fast.