Cyclone Tauktae: 73 villages affected in Karnataka, 4 dead
Bengaluru: With Cyclone Tauktae wreaking havoc in the coastal and surrounding Malnad districts of Karnataka, four deaths have been reported in the state so far, officials said on Sunday.
According to a situation report by Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority officials Sunday morning, 73 villages, 17 taluks in seven districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Kodagu, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru and Hassan have been affected by the cyclone so far.
Among the 73 villages affected, a maximum of 28 are from Udupi district.
Among the four deaths reported so far one each are from Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga, officials said.
While one fisherman who went to tie his boat died in Uttara Kannada as he got hit by another boat, a person died in Udupi due to electricity mishap, they said, adding that one death each were reported in Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga due house collapse and lightning respectively.
A total of 318 people have been evacuated so far, as per the situation report, and 298 people are currently taking shelter in the 11 relief camps that have been opened.
Damages to a total of 112 houses, 139 poles, 22 transformers, 4 ha of horticulture crops have been reported so far, it added.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday asked in-charge Ministers of coastal districts and Deputy Commissioners there to visit affected areas and carry out rescue and relief works.
Yediyurappa called Ministers incharge of coastal districts and Deputy Commissioners and took stock of the situation there, his office said in a statement.
The Chief Minister has directed the officials to call the Ministers concerned or him directly if in need of any emergency assistance from the state government, it said.
As per the situation report, due to cyclone Tauktae heavy to extremely heavy rainfall was observed over six districts, three coastal districts (Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada) and three Malnad districts (Shivamogga, Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru) in the past 24 hours.
The rainfall was accompanied by gale winds speed reaching 70 to 80 km/hour, gusting at times upto 90 km/per along and off Karnataka coast, it said.
Heavy to extremely heavy rainfall was observed over the state mainly over coastal and Malnad districts during last night, it further said, 313 stations recorded more than 64.5 mm (heavy) rainfall in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru districts during 08:30 AM of May 15 to 8.30 AM of May 16.
The highest rainfall of 385 mm was recorded at Nada Station in Kundapura taluk of Udupi district, and 15 stations recorded more than 200 mm of rainfall in the district.
There has been coastal erosion due to rough seas along the coast, roads along the shore have been damaged, the report said, there has also been uprooting of trees due to gale winds and damage to poles and transformers.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned light to moderate rainfall at most places, with heavy to very heavy falls at isolated places in the coastal and adjoining ghat districts of the state on Sunday.
Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said, around 1,000 trained personnel from fire force, police, coastal police, home guards, SDRF have been deployed in the three coastal districts and they will work with coordination in rescue and relief operations, also NDRF teams have also been roped in.
State's Revenue Minister R Ashoka on Saturday had said that the effect of the cyclone is likely to be there till May 18 and had warned fishermen not to venture into the sea till then.
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Five killed in fresh violence in Manipur's Jiribam
Imphal/Kolkata (PTI): Five people were killed in fresh violence in Manipur's Jiribam district on Saturday morning, police said.
One person was shot dead in his sleep while four others were killed in subsequent exchange of fire between armed men of two warring communities, a police officer said.
Militants entered the house of the person who lived alone in an isolated location around 5 km from the district headquarters and shot him dead in his sleep, he said.
After the killing, a heavy exchange of fire broke out between armed men of the warring communities in the hills around 7 km from the district headquarters, leading to the deaths of four armed persons, including three hills-based militants, the officer said.
Further details are awaited.
Earlier this week, fresh arson broke out in the district after suspected "village volunteers" burnt down an abandoned three-room house of a retired police officer at Jakuradhor in Borobekra police station said.
Tribal body Indigenous Tribes Advocacy Committee (Pherzawl and Jiribam) denied any involvement in the incident.
The district witnessed fresh violence despite representatives of the Meitei and Hmar communities reaching an agreement to restore normalcy and "prevent incidents of arson and firing" in a meeting held at a CRPF facility in adjoining Assam's Cachar on August 1.
In the meeting moderated by the Jiribam district administration, Assam Rifles and CRPF personnel, and representatives of Hmar, Meitei, Thadou, Paite and Mizo communities of Jiribam district were also present.
The agreement was, however, denounced by several Hmar tribal bodies based outside Jiribam district saying they did not have any knowledge about it.
More than 200 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.
Ethnically-diverse Jiribam, which was largely untouched by ethnic violence in Imphal Valley and adjoining hills, erupted in violence after a 59-year-old man belonging to one community was killed allegedly by militants of another community in June this year. Thousands had to leave their homes and relocate to relief camps due to incidents of arson by both sides. A CRPF jawan was also killed in an ambush by militants during patrolling by security forces in mid-July.
