Heavy rains flood several areas in Nagpur; 180 rescued
Nagpur (PTI): Heavy rains flooded many parts of Nagpur city, following which 180 people, including 40 students from a school for the hearing and speech-impaired, were rescued, said Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavi on Saturday.
The National Disaster Response (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are rescuing people from flooded homes and streets. Two Army units are reaching the Ambazari area, where a lake overflowed, said Fadnavis.
The city received torrential downpours from Friday midnight. According to the weather department, Nagpur airport reported 106 mm of rainfall till 5.30 am.
Several roads and residential areas have been inundated due to heavy rains, said officials.
The administration has declared a holiday for schools and colleges as a precautionary measure.
Fadnavis, who is an MLA from Nagpur, took to X in the morning to share that he was continuously monitoring the rain situation in the city.
"There has been incessant rainfall due to which the Ambazari lake is overflowing. The low-lying area around it is affected more due to this. Other parts of the city too are affected," said his office on X.
The deputy CM has instructed the Nagpur collector, municipal commissioner and police commissioner to "immediately activate multiple teams for rescuing people who are stuck at few places", Fadnavis's office said.
Later, Fadnavis said on X that two units of NDRF and two units of SDRF, which were divided into 7 groups, had rescued 140 citizens. Similarly, 40 students were rescued from a school for the hearing and speech-impaired, he said.
The fire department is also carrying out rescue work, the deputy CM said.
Fadnavis also appealed to people not to believe in any rumours.
The Nagpur Municipal Corporation has advised people not to step out of their homes unless necessary. Due to continuous rains, many city roads are waterlogged, it said waterlogged.
The Nagpur centre of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said "severe/moderate thunderstorm with lightning" will likely continue at isolated places in Nagpur, Bhandara and Gondia districts. There is also a possibility of "intense rain at isolated places" in these areas, it said.
Light to moderate rainfall is likely to occur at many places in Wardha and some parts of Chandrapur, Bhandara and Gondia districts.
Light rainfall is very likely to occur at isolated places over Amravati, Yavatmal and Gadchiroli, it added.
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K’taka HC judge whose controversial remarks triggered controversy expresses regret before open court
Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.
Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.
On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.
Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”
Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”
Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.
In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.
The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.
Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.
