Mangaluru (PTI): The Dakshina Kannada district administration has got down to work ahead of the monsoon season (June to August) by beginning preparations to tackle various rain-related issues.

At a meeting held on Tuesday, the district authorities, Deputy Commissioner Mullai Muhilan MP reached out to the ground-level bureaucracy with directions on how to handle the challenges during the monsoon season.

Addressing the drinking water and disaster management authority officials, he highlighted the problems faced due to poor maintenance of the electrical system under Mangaluru Electric Supply Company (MESCOM) and said it was not just failure of power supply during rains but also snapping of live cables and falling electric poles which were a concern.

Since this would cause serious damage to life and property, he urged MESCOM to take precautions by carrying out inspections.

Muhilan also directed MESCOM to deploy additional men and open more control rooms across the district during the monsoon season and said both urban and rural areas must be given equal importance.

Muhilan said in the run-up to the monsoons, the existing domestic water availability should be managed prudently.

At the meeting, emphasis was laid on cleaning of dumping yards and garbage disposal areas before the monsoon.

The health department was asked to take precautionary measures against the spread of infectious diseases such as dengue and malaria during the rainy season.

He said that the National Highway should list areas where landslides occur in Charmadi Ghat areas and information should be made available to people about traffic related issues in ghat areas.

The district Deputy Commissioner instructed the Fisheries Department to hold a meeting on precautionary measures for fishermen during the rainy season.

 

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Melbourne (AP): A man accused of killing 15 people at Sydney's Bondi Beach conducted firearms training in an area of New South Wales state outside of Sydney with his father, Australian police documents released on Monday allege.

The men recorded a video about their justification for the meticulously planned attack, according to a police statement of facts that was made public following Naveed Akram's video court appearance Monday from a Sydney hospital where he has been treated for an abdominal injury.

Officers wounded Akram at the scene of the Dec. 14 shooting and killed his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram.

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The New South Wales state government confirmed Naveed Akram was transferred on Monday from a hospital to a prison. Neither facility was identified by authorities.

The statement alleges the 24-year-old and his father began their attack by throwing four improvised explosive devices toward a crowd celebrating an annual Jewish event at Bondi Beach, but the devices failed to explode.

Police described the devices as three aluminium pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb containing an explosive, black powder and steel ball bearings. None detonated, but police described them as “viable” IEDs.

Authorities have charged Akram with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to the wounded survivors and one count of committing a terrorist act.

The antisemitic attack at the start of the eight-day Hanukkah celebration was Australia's worst mass shooting since a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania state in 1996.

The New South Wales government introduced draft laws to Parliament on Monday that Premier Chris Minns said would become the toughest in Australia.

The new restrictions would include making Australian citizenship a condition of qualifying for a firearms license. That would have excluded Sajid Akram, who was an Indian citizen with a permanent resident visa.

Sajid Akram also legally owned six rifles and shotguns. A new legal limit for recreational shooters would be a maximum of four guns.

Police said a video found on Naveed Akram's phone shows him with his father "reciting their political and religious views and appear to summarise their justification for the Bondi terrorist attack.”

The men are seen in the video “condemning the acts of Zionists” while they also “adhere to a religiously motivated ideology linked to the Islamic State,” police said.

Video shot in October shows them “firing shotguns and moving in a tactical manner” on grassland surrounded by trees, police said.

“There is evidence that the Accused and his father meticulously planned this terrorist attack for many months,” police allege.