Madikeri, May 31 : People whose houses were destroyed in last year’s landslips in Kodagu and are keen to reconstruct on the original site or a place of their choice, have been advised to ascertain if the place is safe for reconstruction.

The District administration held an interactive meeting with 54 such families who were not keen to move into the houses constructed by the government as part of its rehabilitation efforts.
The families were keen to build the houses at their place of choice or the original site. The government is chipping in with Rs 9.85 lakh per house which is also the cost of each unit constructed by the government, according to an official release here on Friday.

Additional Deputy Commissioner P Shivaraj said many families had lost their houses during the calamity last year, all of whom were being rehabilitated. ”But there are 54 families who wanted to build the houses on their own for which Rs 2 lakh per family had been released in the first phase.”

He said the construction should be as per the specifications of the government and the beneficiaries should first ascertain if the site was suitable for construction. The balance amount would be released in phases based on the progress of work and the construction should be completed within four moths.

Assistant Commissioner T Javare Gowda said the house should be at least 5.75 squares and the plot should be in the name of the beneficiary.

He said the construction should follow the specified quality norms and clearance from the respective Gram Panchayats would be procured within a week.

However, the residents seeking to construct their own houses categorically stated that it would not be possible to complete the construction within the next four months as specified by the officials. With the onset of monsoon just a week away construction work was bound to be affected and hence the residents sought additional time for completing the construction.

The rains, accompanied by strong winds, also uprooted trees and disrupted power supply in many areas.

Moderate rains and gale in Bengaluru over the weekend has resulted in the death of one man. Satish, aged 35, was killed after he stamped on a live electric wire near his house which had fallen due to the strong winds. 

Bengaluru Mayor Gangambika Mallikarjun visited the house of the deceased and met his family members in Ramachandrappa Garden in Cox Town on Sunday.

The Mayor has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the next of kin.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Bengaluru received 27.2 mm rainfall starting from Sunday 8:30am to Monday 8:30am, and wind speeds reached upto 32 km/hr.

With this, several trees were also uprooted causing damage to property and disruption to traffic movement. There was waterlogging in many important junctions in the city including Mekhri Circle, Cauvery Junction and Mysore Road.

According to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), as many as 56 trees and 596 isolated branches have fallen all over the city. Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, who holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio, has asked all eight zonal commissioners to prioritise clearing of trees and minimise inconvenience to the public.

Snapping of power lines also meant that residents were without electricity for hours in some places.

Meanwhile, weathermen have warned that the city will continue to receive one or two showers over the course of the week, along with gusty winds due to prevailing weather conditions. 

Speaking to media on Sunday, Sunil M Gavaskar, meteorologist at the Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre, warned of similar thunderstorms and gale in Bengaluru and the entire Cauvery basin area.

There will be rain in the coastal belt too before the onset of monsoon, which is set to arrive in the first week of June.

Bengaluru, May 20 : Following is a summary of observations recorded in Meteorological centre, here at 0830 hrs on Monday.
Rainfal occurred at a few places over coastal Karnataka and south interior Karnataka and at isolated places over north interior Karnataka.
Chief rainfall amounts (cm) Chikkamagaluru PTO 5, Kottigehara 4, Mudubidre, Santhebennur, yagati, Kadur 3 each. Channagiri, Ajjampura, Sringeri HMS, B Durga 2 each, Mangaluru AP Obsy, Panambur Obsy, Siddapura, mani and Mangaluru, Sandur, Nelamangala, Nayakanahatty, Bhadravathi and Balehonnur 1 each.
Kalaburgi has recorded the highest maximum temperature of 44.6 dc in the state.
Forecast valid until Wednesday morning: Rain/thundershowers very likely at a few places over coastal Karnataka and south interior Karnataka and at isolated places over north interior Karnataka.
Forecast for Bengaluru city: Partly cloudy sky. Rain/thundershowers very likely to occur in some areas. maximum and minimum temperatures very likely to be around 36 and 24 dc respectively

Bengaluru, May 15: The state of Karnataka is experiencing a mix of weather since the last few days. Bengaluru is known for its pleasant weather conditions round the year. However, the month of May till now has been the hottest for the state capital. The residents of Bengaluru witnessed a sudden change of weather on Wednesday afternoon after thundershowers accompanied with strong winds hit the city due to the influence of an upper air trough is extending from Telangana to Comorin areas across South Interior Karnataka.

The day temperatures would remain between 32 to 35 degrees, while night temperatures will remain between 22 to 24 degrees. Apart from these, the sky conditions will remain partly cloudy to cloudy over most parts.

As per KSNDMC’s data, from March till date, the state should get 62 mm of rainfall on an average. However, the state received only 36 mm.

Also, Heavy rains lashed various parts of North India including states of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday.

IMD has issued a warning for rainfall and thunderstorm over northwest and adjoining central India till May 15. Apart from the warning about heavy rainfall, IMD has also alerted the formation of a cyclonic circulation over West Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, the IMD on Wednesday announced that the monsoon in Kerala is likely to hit on June 6, which is a slight delay by four days.

“This year, the statistical model forecast suggests that the monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be slightly delayed. The southwest monsoon onset is likely to set over Kerala on 6th June with a model error of ± 4 days,” it said.

The normal onset date for monsoon over Kerala was June 1, which also marks the start of the rainy season over the region and relief from scorching summer temperatures.

Climate change appears in poll manifestos of leading parties for the first time, but experts say it’s not enough.

New Delhi, India – It was the winter of 2017 when Utsav, then a two-year-old child, was first diagnosed with asthma, a respiratory disease that affects lungs.

Since then, he is forced to cover his nose or wear a mask to save himself from the dust and smog as India’s capital has been battling a pollution crisis. On worse days, he is given nebulisation by his parents.

“Whenever the air quality depletes, Utsav’s condition worsens. He is quite young but he starts asking for medicines and nebuliser whenever he starts feeling uneasy,” said his mother Priya as they waited to see the doctor in a state-run hospital specialising in chest ailments in North Delhi.

“We cannot even afford good quality masks,” said the 33-year-old mother, an accountant in a local consultancy firm. Her husband Kamal, also 33, is a data entry operator with a food company.

During the winter months of November and December, when air quality is at its worst in New Delhi, the average poisonous particulate matter (PM2.5) often hits the emergency figure of nearly 440, more than 12 times the US government’s recommended limit. The city’s average PM2.5 level is around 114.

Children worst affected

The spike in New Delhi’s air pollution during the end of the year is attributed not only to vehicular emission or industrial dust, but also to the burning of straw by farmers in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh after they harvest their crops.

The Hindu festival of Diwali, which falls around November, also contributes significantly to the city’s pollution as millions of people burst firecrackers filled with harmful chemicals, forcing India’s Supreme Court to regulate their sale.

Delhi-based pulmonologist Dr AK Singh told Al Jazeera that there is a direct correlation between toxic air and ailments including respiratory issues, high blood pressure, heart diseases and even cancer. India has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world due to toxic air as well as polluted water.

“Children are the worst affected because because they respire more air as they are involved in physical activities. The coming generation is going to be seriously affected since their lung development is not
happening in a healthy manner,” he said.

Earlier this year, Sandhya Kamal, a mother of two, finally realised she would not be able to live in a polluted New Delhi anymore and decided to move to Chandigarh, 250km north of India’s capital.

“Delhi’s pollution had gotten on our nerves. Living in the city became a recurring nightmare,” her husband Saras Kamal, who quit his job as a designer with a leading English newspaper, told Al Jazeera from Chandigarh.

The Kamals are among a growing community of “pollution refugees” as The Washington Post put it last year, referring to a growing trend among a section of New Delhi residents seeking a better life in less polluted parts of India.

Fatal air

India, the world’s fastest growing economy, is currently holding its seven-phase general election. Over 900 million eligible voters are expected to use their ballot in a seven-phase election that ends on May 19.

While a number of national issues such as national security and economy have garnered headlines during the ongoing elections, there is barely any discussion over the country’s pollution crisis in their campaign.READ MORE

India has the world’s worst air pollution: report

India’s toxic air claimed 1.24 million lives in 2017 – 12.5 percent of total deaths recorded that year in the country, according to a study published in Lancet Planetary Health. The study said more Indians died due to pollution than cancer, tuberculosis, AIDS and diabetes put together.

The 2018 Global Environmental Performance Index placed India at rank 177 out of 180 countries, down over 20 positions from 155 in 2014.

In March this year, another study said India was home to 15 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities. All four satellite cities surrounding New Delhi – Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Noida – figured in the top six while the national capital itself, home to nearly 30 million people, was placed at the 11th spot.READ MORE

Gap in air quality between rich and poorer countries increases

Yet, Indian politicians seeking a place in India’s 543-member lower house of parliament hardly ever talk about the deadly pollution around them in their campaign speeches.

“Pollution is not an issue for political parties because these leaders are not affected by it. The prime minister’s residence is spread across acres and is full of greenery. What problem is he facing due to air pollution,” asked Priya, who goes by her first name only.

No consensus on climate issues

India elections: All you need to know

In January, India launched a National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) aimed at cutting pollution in India’s 102 worst affected cities by 20 to 30 percent by the year 2024.

But the NCAP has been criticised by environmentalists, who said it lacked focus and ambition.

According to an article in Down to Earth, a New Delhi-based environment magazine, 2019 is the first time climate change has made it to poll manifestos of both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress.

The BJP has vowed to focus on 102 most polluted cities and establish India’s renewable energy capacity of 175 gigawatt by 2022. Its rival Congress has recognised air pollution as a national public health emergency and made a promise to strengthen the NCAP.

Polash Mukherjee, who works with Centre for Science and Environment (CSE, which publishes Down to Earth), says the bottleneck is that the political parties, governments and bureaucrats often don’t agree on the nature of the crisis.

“The biggest challenge is gaining a political consensus on recognising the problem and that is something that has eluded our country so far,” he told Al Jazeera.

While Mukherjee credits the incumbent BJP government for making sanitation and cleanliness electoral agenda, he thinks it’s not enough.

“Of course, implementation is still a long way to go. There are so many areas where measures have been taken only on paper,” he said, citing solid waste management as an example.

“Eighty percent of India’s local municipal bodies are not doing it.”

The World Bank calculates that India’s losses from pollution-related healthcare expenditure stands at $221bn every year or 8.5 percent of its GDP – more than the government spends on health every year.

Dr Singh points out that ordinary citizens are the worst victims of the pollution caused by unregulated urbanisation and increasing industrialisation.

“The kind of burden that is going to fall on us due to diseases related to air pollution is going to be enormous in terms of cost,” he said.

“A country with a majority of unhealthy citizens will not be able to flourish.”

Aljazeera

Cyclone Fani has hit Odisha this morning and has started making its impact felt. Large areas in the temple town of Puri and other places were submerged as heavy rain battered the coast.

India’s Meteorological Department(IMD) in Hyderabad tracking cyclone Fani said winds have been blowing at a maximum speed of 240-245 km per hour with very heavy rains in Puri and is now likely moving towards West Bengal coast.

Two people were killed due to the cyclone, an official said. 

Indian Navy’s P-8I and Dornier have been scheduled to be launched in the afternoon for undertaking aerial survey to assess the extent of impact and devastation post-Fani.

Heavy rainfall and strong winds hit Ganjam as cyclone Fani hit the Puri coast with wind speed of above 175km/per hour.

“In the next three hours, Cyclone Fani is expected to weaken with a wind speed of 150-160 km per hour, subsequently it will weaken and move north-northeastwards. By evening, it may weaken into severe cyclonic storm over extreme northern part of Odisha,” Mrityunjay Mohapatra, IMD official in Delhi said.

Meanwhile, Airports Authority of India said no flight to and from Kolkata airport will be allowed to fly from 3pm today till 8am on Saturday. In a series of tweets, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said Friday that all airlines must immediately respond to the concerns of passengers affected by Cyclone Fani.

“We are ready to offer help needed for the stranded due to cyclonic storm Fani. The control room, helplines are manned all times to assist affected passengers. All Airlines must immediately respond to the concerns of passengers,” he tweeted.

In West Bengal, NDRF team have been deployed at Digha. The disaster relief team have evacuated 132 people, including 52 children, from Dattapur and Tajpur.

Agencies

Bhubaneswar, May 3 : The extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani over Odisha coast, about 20 km to the north of Puri and 25 km to south of Bhubaneswar with wind speed over 170 kmph, caused extensive damages in the coastal Odisha after its landfall near Puri coast on Friday morning.

The pilgrim town of Puri sustained wind speed of 175 kms and the cyclone Fani wreaked havoc for hours uprooting trees and electric poles and damaging several houses as its impact continued for several hours.

The capital city of Bhubaneswar also experienced the severity of the cyclonic storm for hours.

The maximum effect of the cyclone was felt in the coastal Odisha more, particularly in Puri, Khordha and Jagatsinghpur districts, where heavy to extremely heavy rainfall with the gale wind speed exceeding 100 kmph continued for more than two hours.

Road communication was disrupted at many places and power connection snapped. Heavy rains still continued in many parts of coastal Odisha.

Details are awaited.

Eds pls pick up suitably from earlier series.

The “extremely severe” cyclone Fani is about 450 km from Puri and likely to cross the Odisha coast tomorrow afternoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday.

“The extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani over west central Bay of Bengal moved north-northeastwards with a speed of about 15 kmph and lay centred at 0530 hrs IST of May 2 over west central Bay of Bengal about 450 km south-southwest of Puri (Odisha), 230 km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 650 km south-southwest of Digha (West Bengal),” the IMD said in its bulletin.

According to the weather office, the storm is very likely to move north-northeastwards and cross the Odisha Coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali, around Puri, during May 3 afternoon with a maximum wind speed of 170-180 kmph. 

The IMD has advised fishermen not to venture into sea along and off the Odisha coast till May 4.

The sea condition will remain “phenomenal” in west central Bay of Bengal and off the north Andhra Pradesh coast till tomorrow and the northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha and West Bengal till May 4, it said. 

The Met office said that sea conditions are likely to be very rough to high off north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, along with and off south Andhra Pradesh coasts till May 4.It has said that the storm may cause damage to kutcha houses, weak structures, standing crops and plantations. 

The bulletin suggested evacuation of people from coastal areas and appropriate regulation of rail and road traffic. It asked people in areas expected to be affected to remain indoors and termed as “unsafe” movement in motor boats and small ships.

“Heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely at a few places in the districts of Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Khordha, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghapur, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Balasore Kandhamal, Rayagada, Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj (in Odisha),” it said.

Isolated extremely heavy rainfall is likely in the districts of Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghapur, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Balasore and Mayurbhanj, the IMD said.

In view of the cyclone, the East Coast Railway has cancelled 103 trains plying through coastal districts of Puri, Bhubaneswar, Gunpur, and Vishakhapatnam including Silcher-Trivandrum Express (12508), East Coast Express (18645), Howrah-Chennai Mail (12839), Duronto Express (12246), and Amaravati Express (18048). Bangalore Cant-Guwahati Express (12509) from Bangalore on May 2 will run on a diverted route via Vizianagaram-Titilagarh-Jharsuguda and Visakhapatnam-Amritsar Hirakud Express (18507) from Visakhapatnam on May 3 will run via Vizianagaram-Titilagarh and Sambalpur. According to the East Coast Railway, a special train will start from Puri on Thursday and go towards Shalimar in Kolkata.

The train, with reserved and unreserved coaches, will have stops at Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jajpur Kendujhar road, Bhadrak, Baleswar and Kharagpur. Two more special trains will start from Puri today for Howrah. The stoppages will include Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jajpur, Kendujhar Road, Bhadrak, Balasore and Kharagpur.

The Ministry of Defence has authorised the proactive deployment of resources from the Navy and Coast Guard for succour at the time of need. It is monitoring the developing situation in the East Coast and has asked the Navy and Coast Guard to provide assistance with minimum reaction time, an official statement said.

The Coast Guard has deployed 20 teams, it said. In Bhubaneswar, preparations are underway by the Odisha Fire Services in view of the cyclonic storm. Around 50 teams of six members each are on alert in the city. A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team has arrived in Ichchapuram in Andhra Pradesh.

Agencies

South Wales : Two people were injured in an early hours explosion at Tata’s biggest steelworks plant in United Kingdom.
BBC reported that the residents living nearby the Port Talbot plant spoke of hearing a “massive” blast at 0303 hours (local time).
Tata Steel held that the explosion came from a train used to carry molten metal, but the fires were now out and all employees had been accounted for. The firm later tweeted: “We can confirm two of our employees were slightly injured when there was a spillage of liquid iron while it was travelling to the steel plant. All fires have now been extinguished. A full investigation has begun”
The company also informed that the site was reopened by 0700 hours.