Flood-hit areas limping back to normality Special Correspondent

Flights resume at Visakhapatnam airport; toll goes up to nine

HYDERABAD: The flood-hit areas in Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari, Khammam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram were limping back to normality on Sunday following the respite in rain. Flights too resumed at the Visakhapatnam airport.

The toll, however, rose to nine, with two more deaths reported from West Godavari and Vizianagaram districts in wall-collapse and drowning, respectively.

While the ‘trough’ which caused the torrential rain dissipated, another low pressure area lay in the Bay close to West Bengal. The State Met Office, however, said the fresh system was not likely to pose a threat. It might move towards West Bengal and Bangladesh.

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Flood damage may well be a thing of the past! M. Malleswara Rao -File photo: U. Subramanyam

Welcome change: If everything goes well, within two years embankments will stall the fury of rivers.

HYDERABAD: In two years from now, hundreds of villages in nine coastal districts, Srikakulam to Nellore, are likely to remain unaffected by floods, if everything goes well with the ambitious projects taken up to provide/raise embankments to rivers Godavari, Krishna, Vamsadhara, Nagavali and Pennar.

The strengthened embankments will not only prevent river water from flooding the habitations, but also allow inflows into rivers effectively through established routes, like tributaries/streams.

Works under a Rs. 500-crore project, taken up to raise/strengthen the embankments of the Godavari and lay fresh ones wherever needed -- all for a stretch of 530 km on either side of the river in East and West Godavari districts -- have been grounded.

The flood-banks will insulate the areas upstream and downstream of Dowlaiswaram Barrage, especially Konaseema, from the fury of the mighty river. The outflow from the barrage touched 35 lakh cusecs in 1986, the highest in its recorded history.

Similarly, nearly 150-km length of flood-banks in Khammam and Warangal are being raised to permanently protect habitations, especially the temple town of Bhadrachalam, at a cost of Rs 200 crore.

Another Rs 270-crore project has been taken up to renovate the flood-banks on both sides of the Krishna ( over 140 km), starting from Vijayawada to Hamsaladeevi, where the river joins the Bay.

Administrative approval for the project, which will be a boon to villages in Krishna and Guntur districts, is awaited, says M. K. Rahaman, Engineer-in-chief, Irrigation. The highest outflow from the Krishna, in contrast, was 10.5 lakh cusecs (1908).

This project envisages to double-lane the existing road on the embankments from Vijayawada to Puligadda that offers a bewitching sight of the river course to the traveller.

Works have also been grounded under a fourth Rs 300-crore project to refurbish the embankments of the Vamsadhara and Nagavali, that cause havoc in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram. In case of modernising the embankments of the Pennar that flooded areas in Nellore district recently, investigation work is on.

11 lakh affected in E.Midnapore district flood

Kolaghat (WB), Oct. 2 (PTI): About 11 lakh people of 25 blocks of East Midnapore district was affected floods, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee said today.

Bhattacharjee, who held a meeting with top officers of East Midnapore district here, said the administration opened 71 relief centres where 6000 people had taken shelter.

However, after water receded a bit now, about 2500 people were currently lodged in these centres.

The chief minister said crops of 1.28 lakh hectare land were destroyed in the flood in the district.

88 Killed In India Flooding In September

September 30, 2007 10:02 a.m. EST

Preciosa Dumlao - AHN Writer

Kolkata, India (AHN) - Since the start of September, at least 88 people have died in rain-related accidents in eastern India, and tens of thousands have been stranded in government relief camps, reports said.

In recent days, rain-related accidents in the state of West Bengal have claimed 48 lives, a relief minister said Saturday.

"The death toll rose to 48 today with 19 more people dying of snake bites, electrocutions and wall collapses," Relief minister Mortaza Hossain was quoted as saying by Agency France Press.

"More than three million people have been displaced by the flooding in eight districts," he said.

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Almost 90 dead in fresh India monsoon rains

Sep 29, 2007

KOLKATA, India (AFP) — At least 88 people have died in rain-related accidents in eastern India since the start of September with tens of thousands stranded in state-run relief camps, officials said.

Rain-related accidents in the state of West Bengal have claimed 48 lives there in recent days, a minister told AFP.

"The death toll rose to 48 today with 19 more people dying of snake bites, electrocutions and wall collapses," said relief minister Mortaza Hossain on Saturday.

"More than three million people have been displaced by the flooding in eight districts."

Some 200,000 homes have also been destroyed, state officials said, but added that the situation was under control with boats rescuing people from roof-tops and houses.

The situation in eastern Orissa state was also grim with 40 dead this month, many in recent days, Manmohan Samal, minister for revenue and disaster management in the state, told AFP Friday.

The floods had cost the Orissa exchequer some 275 million dollars, the state government said, but no new deaths were reported from the state Saturday and rains appeared to be diminishing.

More than 3,100 people have been killed by rain and floods in India since the start of the June to September monsoons, the latest figures available from India's home ministry showed.

Valvonti floods, a distress signal

by Nandkumar Kamat

The flash floods at night, which created a nightmarish situation for the people of Sattari and Bicholim, is natures’ warning that all is not well with the management of the catchments of the inter-state Valvonti river - an important tributary of the Mandovi river. Goa shares this river basin with Maharashtra. Valvonti, a 22-kilometre long river with tidal influence till Sanquelim town, originates near Virdi in Sawantwadi taluka and enters Goa at Shiroli. The Costi river joins it at Ghonteli, the Cudnem river at Karkhazan and the Bicholim river, which originates from Maharashra and enters Goa at Kudchirem, joins it at Karapur. By these floods the Valvonti river has sent out a distress signal.

Flood control requires an integrated understanding of hydrology and ecology of the Valvonti river basin. Controlling such floods in future needs joint monitoring and management of Valvonti’s inter-state catchments. There are natural and man-made reasons for the recent flash floods. Natural reasons may include higher rainfall intensity, bottlenecks in the silted streams feeding the tributaries and truncation of the normal flow channels. Man-made reasons could be several but the systematic destruction of the steep slopes of the Virdi hills by plantation owners in the catchment area of Valvonti is a major cause. The floods might have lasted for a few hours but the intensity and consequent damages were far greater this time than in the past. In Keri, Sattari such flash floods were experienced for the first time in 60 years, so the people were caught by surprise, especially as they took place in the night. The government thinks that longer, taller and stronger RCC embankments will control the floods. But these are of limited use if the flood water carries a heavy sediment load and acquires a higher momentum downstream. Embankments which fragment the natural flood plain could actually cause more havoc in the downstream areas.

France, England and Belgium have faced the consequences of permitting constructions on their river banks. The urban populations in these countries paid a heavy price when they reclaimed the river flood plains. People initially wanted to have a closer look of the scenic rivers. In the process large areas of the flood plains were systematically reclaimed. Hard constructions came up. Under normal precipitation conditions nothing happened. But when it poured heavily the rivers, in spate, tried to recapture their lost flood plains. Massive floods in Europe in recent times have started a debate there about the technological limits of flood control. Now the focus is to conserve and protect the natural flood plains.

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Flood control projects cleared, says CM Special Correspondent

TIRUCHI: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has cleared a Rs.207-crore scheme for strengthening the bunds of the Cauvery and Coleroon rivers in Tiruchi, Karur and Perambalur districts, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi announced here on Saturday.

The proposal was drawn up in the wake of frequent floods in the region during monsoon and the Public Works Department had sought financial assistance from the NABARD.

This apart, the State Government had sanctioned Rs.87 crore for implementing a flood prevention scheme in the Uyyakondan and Kudamuritti rivers in Tiruchi city, Mr. Karunanidhi said speaking at a function to mark the foundation laying and inauguration of several development schemes, including the Rs.144-crore drinking water supply augmentation scheme for the city.

He recalled that he had announced a flood prevention project for the city at a cost of Rs.50 crore after visiting the flood-affected areas during his previous regime. But the project failed to take off as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was voted out of power. “We have now revived the project and the government order was issued on September 27,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that the Government was keen on providing urban amenities to rural areas also. Several projects including improvement to tanks and water sources were being implemented under the Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam and Perooratchi Anna Marumalarchi Thittam.

Flood-like situation in S Bengal districts

Statesman News Service
BURDWAN/krishnagar, Sept. 26: Burdwan Sabhadhipati today alleged the apathy shown by concerned authorities in Jharkhand has resulted in a flood-like situation in the three districts of Burdwan, Bankura and Hooghly. “I shall seek state government’s stern intervention to put an end to this recurring problem,” Mr Uday Sarkar, the Sabhadhipati said.
Mr Sarkar, along with the district magistrate of Burdwan, Mr Manish Jain and top irrigation officials had to rush to the Maithon dam yesterday evening after they received information that 3.20 lakh cusecs of water would be discharged by the Maithon and Panchet reservoirs in Bengal-Jharkhand border. The combined discharge would have marooned the villages across the Damodar shoreline in the South Bengal districts if, as Mr Sarkar said, they hadn't rushed to Maithon in time. Though the torrential rain has controlled its pace in Bengal stretches, it maintained an increased intensity in Damodar catchments falling under Jharkhand. Despite of a convincing discharge by the Maithon and Panchet reservoirs, the Damodar riverbank in two locations ~ Natu near Burdwan and at Jalanpur-Banjora in Bankura were washed away rendering hundreds of villagers homeless last night.
“The situation of the dams were not that critical that it needed a discharge of such a high magnitude. Authorities in Jharkhand compelled the DVC to declare an increase in discharge rate,” Mr Sarkar alleged. On Wednesday, according to Mr Abani Roy, executive engineer, Damodar Headworks: "The discharge at Durgapur barrage maintained 2.49 lakh cusecs throughout the day. If the rainfall in the catchment areas doesn’t increase further, there is no question to intensify the rate.” A flood-like situation looms large in six blocks in Nadia district as water level of river Bhagirathi in Swarupganj is likely to cross the 9.5 meter mark by Thursday morning. The blocks, which are in danger of being flooded include, Nabadwip, Santipur, Ranaghat-I, Krishnagar-I, Nakashipara and Kaliganj. According to senior district officials, the water level of Bhagirathi had already crossed the extreme danger level (EDL) mark (9.05 meter) at Swarupganj at approximately 3 a.m. today and it was flowing at the level of 9.33 meter mark this afternoon. As Bhagirathi is flowing above EDL mark at several places along its course in the district, low-lying areas of six gram panchayats: Mahisura, Fakirdanga-Golapara, Char Majdiya, Char Brahmhanagar, Bablari and Swarupganj in Nabadwip block have already been partially flooded.

Rain claims ten lives in West Bengal

Tuesday, 25 September , 2007, 22:49

Kolkata: The death toll from three days of incessant rainfall in southern West Bengal touched 10 with a youth dying of electrocution in Kolkata Tuesday afternoon, even as the districts reeled under a flood-like situation despite a let-up in the downpour. The police said a youth died at Ultadanga in north Kolkata after he came in contact with a live electric wire, which had got detached from its post and fell into a waterlogged area. Full Story

UNICEF Humanitarian Action Update South Asia floods 25 Sep 2007

UNICEF IS RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN THE AREAS OF HEALTH AND NUTRITION, WATER AND SANITATION, EDUCATION AND CHILD PROTECTION

- Heavy floods and landslides in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan have affected millions of children and their families.

- Thousands of villages have been marooned, leaving millions of people displaced.

- While flood waters have begun to recede, the threat from hunger, disease and malnutrition continues for the affected populations.

- UNICEF’s biggest priority is to prevent serious disease outbreaks and to protect the health and nutritional status of women and children. UNICEF also focuses on getting children back to school.

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Bangladesh: Disaster Management Information Centre situation report 23 Sep 2007 18:00

Special Weather Bulletin; Report on Cyclone Speculated Districts; Flood, Rainfall and River Situation; Summary of Water Levels; Flood Forecast (24 & 48 Hrs); Weather Forecast and District Wise Flood Status

Current Situation: Maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Mongla have been advised to hoist local cautionary signal no. three (r) three. All fishing boats and trawlers over North Bay have been advised to remain in shelter till further notice. Overall flood situation of the country continued in improving trend and will continue. The Brahmaputra-Jamuna and the Ganges–Padma continued falling and will fall further. Flood situation in the South-central part of the country is likely to improve further and will continue. All small rivers surrounding Dhaka district are receding and the trend will continue. The prevailing flood situation in the districts of Sylhet & Sunamganj is improving slowly and is likely to improve further.

SPECIAL WEATHER BULLETIN (on September 23, 2007 at 0830 BST)

THE ORISSA COAST CROSSING MONSOON DEEP DEPRESSION CROSSED ORISSA COAST OF INDIA NEAR PARADWIP BY EARLY MORNING TODAY (23 SEPTEMBER 2007) AND NOW LIES OVER ORISSA AND ADJOINING AREA AS A LAND DEPRESSION. IT IS LIKELY MOVE IN A NORTH-NORTHWESTERLY DIRECTION FURTHER INLAND AND WEAKEN GRADUALLY BY GIVING PRECIPITATION. UNDER ITS INFLUENCE STEEP PRESSURE GRADIENT PERSISTS OVER NORTH BAY. SQUALLY WEATHER MAY AFFECT THE MARITIME PORTS.

MARITIME PORTS OF CHITTAGONG, COX'S BAZAR AND MONGLA HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO LOWER LOCAL WARNING SIGNAL NUMBER FOUR (R) FOUR BUT INSTEAD HOIST LOCAL CAUTIONARY SIGNAL NUMBER THREE (R) THREE.

ALL FISHING BOATS AND TRAWLERS OVER NORTH BAY HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO REMAIN IN SHELTER TILL FURTHER NOTICE.

[NO FURTHER SPECIAL WEATHER BULLETIN WILL BE ISSUED IN THIS SERIES]

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Centre promises adequate assistance to State for flood relief work
Special Correspondent

Shivraj Patil and Radhika Selvi review damage caused by rain and floods

BANGALORE: The Union Government on Sunday assured the State Government of providing adequate financial assistance to take up relief and rehabilitation work in 14 flood-affected districts of the State.

Union Minister Home Shivraj Patil reviewed the damaged caused by rain and floods in north Karnataka and said, “The Union Government will definitely look into the demands of the State and try to provide enough financial assistance to undertake relief work. Money is not a problem, equipment is not a problem. Please don’t worry. Money will come to you (State).”

Loss

The State Government has estimated the loss at Rs. 1,000 crore. Forty-one people and 368 heads of cattle died and 72,028 houses were damaged in the recent rain and floods. Standing crops in 2.42 lakh hectares of land were destroyed. Many roads, bridges and buildings were damaged and 213 villages were inundated in the State.

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Shivraj Patil to review flood situation today Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Union Minister of State for Home Radhika Selvi will review on Sunday the damage caused by rain and floods in north Karnataka.

Chief Secretary Prahalad B. Mahishi and Principal Secretary (Revenue) S.M. Jamadar told presspersons here on Saturday that Ms. Selvi would leave Bangalore in the morning for Hubli by air and conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas.

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Central study team to visit flood hit areas of Karnataka

Bangalore, Sept. 22 (PTI): A Central study team headed by Union Minister of State for Home Radhika Selvi will undertake an aerial survey of flood-hit areas of Karnataka on September 26, a senior official said on Friday.

Selvi will be accompanied by a team of officials from the Centre and state government, state revenue department secretary C N Seetharam told PTI.

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Rain batters North Coastal Andhra Special Correspondent

Threat of depression looms large ; toll rises to 58, crops in 5 lakh acres damaged

PHOTO: CH. Vijaya Bhaskar

Alarming situation: Floodwaters entered the homes on the Krishna flood bank at Tarakaramanagar as the water level rose downstream the Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada on Friday. -

HYDERABAD: North Coastal Andhra took the brunt of the heavy rain which lashed Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, East and West Godavari districts on Friday under the influence of the low pressure area.

A forecast said the low pressure area was likely to turn into a depression on Saturday. The low pressure area turned “well marked” and lay close to the coast between North Andhra and South Orissa. This means that the north Coastal Andhra belt is in for further battering. Araku Valley recorded a heavy rainfall of 11 cm and Srungavarapukota and Tekkali 7 cm each. Unexpected inflows into Meghadrigadda reservoir forced the authorities to open a few of its gates to let out the water. And this posed a threat to the Visakhapatnam airport.

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Indian Floods in South, East Take Monsoon Death Toll to 2,827

By Bibhudatta Pradhan

Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Floods in India's southern and eastern states caused by monsoon rains have killed at least 62 people in the last two days, taking the death toll in the South Asian nation to 2,827 for the June-September season.

Rains in the last week in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and Assam and Bihar in the east have triggered floods and landslides, which have led to the destruction of villages and devastation of crops, the home ministry's National Disaster Management unit said.

In Andhra Pradesh, as many as 21 people have died in the past three days and 4,390 families in 48 villages have been ``severely affected'' because of floods, the agency said on its Web site. Road transport has been disrupted and 16,581 hectares of crops have been damaged, it said.

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Respite in floods; low pressure weakens Special Correspondent

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Floods leave a trail of destruction in Kurnool where vast areas of crops get inundated

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HYDERABAD: Rain battered the State for the fifth day on Thursday under the influence of a low pressure area but there was some respite in the floods as the level of water in the rivers began to fall.

The low pressure area weakened and started moving towards Orissa bringing in its wake widespread rain in North Coastal Andhra. Kakinada and Koida recorded 9 cm and 8 cm of rain, respectively, even as the toll rose to 48. The floods left a trail of destruction in Kurnool district where vast areas of sunflower, onion and cotton crops were inundated along with low-lying villages by the Tungabhadra, Handri and Kundu and several streams.

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Emergency Situation Report No. 10 - India floods 13 - 20 Sep 2007

Nature and Location: Monsoon floods across India including Orissa, West Bengal, Assam and Bihar

Headlines

- To date, Save the Children has reached approximately 16,802 children in the emergency flood response:

Food Assistance: An initial one-month complementary food package has been distributed to 6,677 children, pregnant and lactating mothers and elderly people.

Health: 6464 patients, including 2500 children, have received medical attention in temporary health camps and through our cholera response.

Water and Sanitation: Approximately 5125 children have benefited through distribution of sanitation materials and oral rehydration salts and repairs to 20 community tube wells

Shelter: 2,500 families, including 5,000 children, have received tarpaulins for temporary shelter.

Education and Protection: 3,300 children have received educational kits and support in returning to school.

- The second and third rounds of flooding in Assam have drastically widened the geographic coverage of the disaster. Given the well-established poverty of the rural population and particularly the marginalised communities in Assam most of the affected population will not have the means to cope on their own until normal livelihoods are re-established.

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Drenchers return to pound Gujarat-Mumbai belt

Vinson Kurian

Thiruvananthapuram, Sept. 19 Peak-monsoon circulatory patterns are combining to drench the Gujarat-Mumbai-Konkan belt, their favourite playground, with torrents for one last time.

The proceedings have already been set in motion, with Mumbai and immediate neighbourhood being targeted overnight on Wednesday. But more is to come, what with an upper air cyclonic circulation popping up in the east-central Arabian Sea already.

RAINS FOR NORTHWEST

There is also growing consensus on scattered to widespread rains returning to the parched north and northwest India.

The resident anti-cyclone (clear skies with dry weather) risks the danger of being blown off its moorings at least temporarily.

Monday’s ‘low’ underwent one round of intensification to become well-marked, and has since strolled the west-central Bay of Bengal and adjoining coastal Andhra Pradesh.

It will cause fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls over coastal Andhra Pradesh and south Orissa.

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Flood in Assam: Isn't it a National Disaster? By M. Burhanuddin Qasmi* "The flood situation in Assam is grim once again, nearly 50 lakh people affected in the deluge". "Army called out in flood-hit Assam, 8 million displaced". "At least 21 of Assam's 27 districts are now hit by the third wave of floods that began Wednesday (5th September), affected 10 million people". These and similar news about Assam were making headlines about the third wave of devastating floods in Assam in almost all national and international media portals till mid September. This year the state has been hit by the killer flood three times, successively, within a short span of three months. Some ladies sail through a boat to save their lives leaving behind their homes and belongings Cost of Recent Flood An Assam government statement said 'a total land area of two million hectares was affected, besides nearly 4.8 million hectares of cropland, since July'. A total of 70 people have been drowned in separate incidents till 15 September 2007. The floods that began in July have so far hit more than 10 million people covering about 9,000 villages - the worst hit districts being Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Dhubri, Morigaon, Barpeta, Goalpara and Nalbari. Incidentally the districts are Muslim populous who make nearly 31 per cent of state's total population. According to 2001 census total population of Assam is 2, 66, 38, 407 and flood displaced are more then one third of the total population. There are reports of breaches in embankments in 60 places. Flash flood partially damaged National Highway (NH) 31 and 52 and posed a threat to state's main life line NH 37 by eroding basement area of an important bridge in Golaghat district. Heavy traffics have been diverted through a gravel road. State's water Resource Minister Bharat Chandra Narah informed that the situation worsened because government did not get enough time to repair the breaches of dykes and embankments during the second wave of floods in the month of August. The first wave of pouring flood water hit the state on 11th July this year. Full Story