Idukki has gone back by 40 years due to floods: Kerala Minister
Idukki (Kerala), Aug 26: The hilly district of Idukki has been thrown back by 40 years following Kerala's worst flooding in a century, Power Minister M.M. Mani said on Sunday.
"What our forefathers built in the past 100 years to take Idukki to where it was has been washed away. Idukki has gone back by 40 years," the Marxist leader told the media.
This is one of the worst disasters Idukki has witnessed, he lamented.
Long considered home to settlers, the main occupation in Idukki is farming. But with its numerous hills and treacherous terrain, life has never been easy in the district.
Idukki is also home to some of the major dams which, when their sluice gates were opened after their water level came to the choking points, caused unprecedented destruction all over the state this month.
Idukki received one of its highest rainfalls starting from the end of May till the middle of August. This pushed up the water levels in the Idukki, Mulaperiyar and other dams.
For the first time in 26 years, the shutters of the Idukki dam were opened, causing a deluge.
"This is the worst destruction I have seen," said Mani, who is from the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).
So bad is the situation that to reach the state capital Thiruvananthapuram from Idukki, Mani had to take a detour through the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu as the main link road linking Idukki and Thiruvananthapuram has been damaged.
Mani came under severe attack from the opposition for faulty dam water management but he insisted that all rules were followed.
"Everything was done according to clear-cut guidelines after discussing with all concerned," he said.
The waters gushing out from the Idukki dam spread out far and wide, damaging everything that came in its way and forcing hundreds of thousands to take shelter in relief camps.
While rains and flooding caused widespread damage to crops and buildings, landslides damaged several key roads connecting the major towns in the district with interior areas.
Roshy Augustine, an Idukki legislator, said on Sunday that massive efforts were needed to get Idukki back on its feet and rehabilitate all those who had lost everything they had.
"Ever since the tragedy struck, politics has taken a back seat. Everyone is working as one single team to restore Idukki to its original self... The need of the hour is a proper dam management policy," said the Congress MLA.
Idukki, especially Munnar, a picturesque hill station, took the worst beating. Even now the main road that connects Munnar with Ernakulam is only partially motorable.
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Indian startup's 'Drishti' satellite launched aboard SpaceX rocket
New Delhi (PTI): Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite was launched on Sunday aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from California.
Mission Drishti is the world's first OptoSAR satellite, integrating electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform, according to the company.
While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses.
In a statement, Suyash Singh, founder and CEO of GalaxEye, said, "With the satellite (Mission Drishti) now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload."
The satellite will help address long-standing limitations of conventional systems and enable more reliable and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions, the company said.
As a dual-use Earth observation satellite, the mission will support use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.
The satellite is also expected to complement India's broader initiatives, including the 29 active Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO's recent annual report.
The launch came after five years of indigenous research and development, and extensive environmental testing and performance validation of the Mission Drishti.
In a statement, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, "GalaxEye has achieved what only a few global players have, which is seamlessly combining optical and SAR capabilities on a single platform to enable persistent, all-weather intelligence."
What stands out is not just the technology, but its broader impact on how downstream applications will increasingly define value in the space economy, particularly in Earth observation, where timely, decision-grade insights are critical," he added.
ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took note of the Mission Drishti launch, saying the development marked a significant milestone in India's space journey.
In a post on X, the minister said, "The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and the largest privately-built satellite in the country, reflects the immense potential of our young innovators driving nation-building."
GalaxEye aims to scale up Mission Drishti to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030, developing a robust and sovereign Earth observation infrastructure for India.
