Rescuers yesterday searched for people feared missing in floods and landslides that have killed at least 58 in India, including nine who died in the collapse of a popular temple.
Days of torrential downpours have washed away vehicles, demolished buildings and destroyed bridges in the Himalayas.
Flooding and landslides are common and cause widespread devastation during India’s treacherous monsoon season, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity.
Photo: AFP
Fifty people have been killed in Himachal Pradesh since Sunday, with thousands more stranded after disruptions to roads, power lines and communication networks.
“As many personnel as possible are being deployed in relief and rescue work,” Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in a statement late on Monday. “Work will continue on a war-footing to provide relief to the people.”
Sukhu said earlier that up to 20 others were feared trapped under rubble after landslides, and appealed to residents to stay indoors and avoid going near rivers.
Images from hard-hit areas in Himachal Pradesh showed bodies being pulled out of piles of dark earth that had crushed buildings and smashed roofs.
Railway lines were seen dangling in midair, the ground beneath them washed away.
At least nine people died when a landslide triggered the collapse of a Hindu temple in the state capital, Shimla, with officials fearing more were trapped underneath the rubble.
Sukhu said that the state would scale down yesterday’s annual celebrations of Independence Day, which marks the end of the British colonial era, to concentrate on rescue efforts.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking from the Red Fort in New Delhi for his annual holiday address, said that natural disasters had caused “unimaginable troubles” for families across the nation.
“I express my sympathies towards all of them, and I assure them that state and central governments will work together,” he told the crowd.
At least eight more people have also been killed since Friday last week in neighboring Uttarakhand state.
Rescue teams there raced to remove debris after people were feared buried when heavy rainfall triggered landslides.
Five people were buried when a landslide hit a resort near the popular yoga retreat of Rishikesh on the banks of the River Ganges.
Several riverside towns and villages in both states were at risk of flash floods from the heavy rain forecast in the region.
The monsoon brings South Asia about 80 percent of its annual rainfall, and is vital for both agriculture and the livelihoods of millions, but it also brings destruction every year in the form of landslides and floods.
Days of relentless monsoon rains killed at least 90 people last month, while the capital, New Delhi, saw the Yamuna River — which snakes past the megacity — record its highest levels since 1978.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
RSS