Ankola landslide: No survivor or truck found under accumulated mud, search ops continues
Ankola: No survivor or truck was found under the accumulated mud on the road following a massive landslide in Shirur village in Uttara Kannada district and the focus has now shifted to the Gangavalli river to trace the three missing people, including a driver from Kerala, officials said on Monday.
Seven bodies have been recovered so far since the incident on July 16, they said.
In a statement, Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said that the operation at the Shirur landslide site is continuing.
"The search under the accumulated mud on the road is almost complete. We have not found any survivor or truck. While we have been carrying out operations in the river and open water, the focus is now more on the Gangavalli river. Every lead on the river front is being pursued. Deep divers are trying to locate the truck cabin," he said.
According to him, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), Fire and Emergency Services and Navy are continuing the operations on land and water.
The Indian Army Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief Team comprising an officer, two Junior commissioned officers and 55 others of Maratha Light Infantry Regiment, Belagavi and one Junior commissioned officer and two others from College of Military Engineering, Pune are also engaged in the operations, he said.
Besides the rescue apparatuses already in the field, the army team has specialised tools including ground penetration radars, deep search metal detectors, rafts with overboard motors and specialised climbing equipment.
"The 29 members of NDRF, 42 of SDRF, 12 deep divers from Indian Navy and teams from the Fire and Emergency department of the state are in active deployment in the search operations," he said.
Vehicular traffic has been temporarily suspended on National Highway 66 following the landslide.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
ICICI Bank trims hike, lowers min balance requirement to Rs 15,000 from Rs 50,000
New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI): In a U-turn, ICICI Bank has slashed the minimum monthly average balance (MAB) requirement to Rs 15,000 from Rs 50,000, citing "valuable feedback" from customers.
The minimum balance requirement for its new savings bank accounts opened on or after August 1 was recently raised five times to Rs 50,000.
"Following valuable feedback from our customers, we have revised these requirements to better reflect their expectations and preferences. We thank our customers for their continued trust and feedback, which help us serve them better," ICICI Bank posted on its website.
Similarly, the MAB for semi-urban and rural locations has been revised downwards to Rs 7,500 and Rs 2,500 respectively, it said.
Before August 1, the MAB for semi-urban and rural was Rs 5,000.
However, the bank said the revised MAB requirements are not applicable to salary accounts, senior citizens/pensioners (above 60 years), basic savings bank deposit account/PM Jandhan Yojana, and accounts for people with special needs.
They are also not applicable to savings accounts opened before July 31, 2025.
MAB is the minimum balance that a customer is required to maintain in a bank account. If the balance falls below the required amount, the bank levies a penalty.
In case account holders fail to meet the MAB, customers will be liable to pay penal charges of 6 per cent of the shortfall in required MAB, or Rs 500, whichever is lower.
The balance in the savings bank account of ICICI Bank earns an interest of 2.5 per cent per annum, it said.
The hike in MAB comes at a time when public sector banks have rationalised their penalties or completely waived them.
