Uttarakhand on high alert has heavy rains pummel hill state, six killed
Dehradun (PTI): Incessant rains and landslides in Uttarakhand claimed six lives on Sunday and authorities in the hill state have sounded a red alert as water level rose in all major rivers, including the Ganga, amid a forecast of more heavy showers in the next two days
In view of the inclement weather, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami urged the people to avoid unnecessary movement and requested pilgrims coming to the state to plan their journey only after getting the latest weather information to avoid inconvenience.
In a tweet, he said he has directed the administration to remain on 'red alert' mode to deal with any kind of situation.
Several roads were blocked due to landslides, affecting normal life as well as hindering the Char Dham pilgrimage for which lakhs of people visit the state. The water level of major rivers of the state including Ganga was rising, officials said.
A jeep carrying 11 pilgrims from Kedarnath fell into the river Ganga in the Muni ki Reti area of ??Tehri Garhwal district.
State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) Inspector Kavindra Sajwan said that with the help of divers, five people were rescued and the bodies of three pilgrims were recovered. A search operation is on for the other three missing people.
The passengers were residents of Delhi, Bihar, and Hyderabad.
The accident occurred between Malkunti bridge and Hotel Anand Kashi near Gular on Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway, Inspector in-charge of Muni Ki Reti police station Ritesh Sah said.
Sah said that five rescued passengers have been admitted to the government hospital in Rishikesh.
A large number of trees were uprooted in the Kashipur area of ??Udham Singh Nagar district. Due to heavy rains, two houses in Missarwala village of Kashipur area of ?the district collapsed, killing a couple and injuring their granddaughter.
According to the Uttarakhand State Emergency Operation Centre, the victims have been identified as Naseer Ahmed, 65, and his wife Mohammadi, 60. The couple's 18-year-old granddaughter Mantasa was injured in the incident and has been admitted to the hospital.
In another incident in Uttarkashi's district's Barkot town, a policeman out on duty died after getting hit by a stone in a landslide. Another home guard who too was posted there barely escaped the stone fall.
The incident took place on Yamunotri National Highway where Head Constable Chaman Lal Tomar, 45, was posted for security of commuters. He was rushed to a local hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.
Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha has instructed the district magistrates to be vigilant and take adequate precautions in view of the rising water level of the rivers.
They have asked the administration to continuously monitor the water level of the rivers, not to switch off their mobile phones and allow any movement of tourists in higher Himalayan regions during heavy rain warnings.
The Uttarakhand Police has also tweeted and asked the Kanwariyas to be vigilant in view of the rise in the water level of the Ganga in Haridwar.
Meanwhile, the meteorological department here predicted heavy rains on July 11 and 12 in eight of the state's 13 districts - Chamoli, Pauri, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Almora, Champawat, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar.
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Cong govt ended ‘darkness’ in 11 months of rule in T’gana: CM Revanth Reddy rebuts PM Modi's remark
Hyderabad (PTI): During the last 11 months, the Congress government in Telangana has reversed an air of gloom and despair under the previous BRS regime and ended the "darkness", Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said on Saturday.
He was responding to a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that under Congress rule developmental trajectory and fiscal health is turning from bad to worse in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana.
“I am happy to clarify several misconceptions and factual errors in your statements about my state and our government," Reddy said in his post.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday in a series of posts said the Congress stands "badly exposed" in front of people for promising to them what the party knows it will never be able to deliver.
“Every promise made by us to people is a sacred commitment for us. In the last 11 months, we have reversed an air of gloom & despair under BRS, and ended the darkness. Like a morning sun, Telangana is now Rising,” Reddy said in the post addressed to Modi.
Within two days of taking charge, the Telangana government fulfilled its first and second promise - free bus travel for women across all government buses, and a healthcare and hospitalisation cover of 10 lakhs under Rajiv Aarogyasree, the CM pointed out.
Even before completion of first year of rule, the Congress government has implemented India's largest ever, state-level farmer loan waiver of Rs 18,000 crore covering over 22 lakh farmers, he said responding to PM’s comments that in Telangana, farmers are awaiting the (loan) waiver they were promised.
Women get free electricity, with no domestic power charge for their homes up to 200 units, Reddy noted.
The CM also claimed that his government has held the largest recruitment drive and is regularly holding exams of all levels and provided jobs to over 50,000 eligible youth, a record “unmatched by any BJP state government.”
The CM said the government is rejuvenating River Musi, which was allegedly neglected by the previous government and protecting lakes and other precious water bodies, encroached upon and destroyed wantonly with abandon in the last 10 years.
