Red alert sounded in seven districts of Karnataka
Bengaluru: A red alert has been sounded in seven districts of rain-ravaged Karnataka where one more death was reported on Sunday, taking the toll to 13.
According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, there would be heavy rain for the next 24 hours in coastal areas, in the northern and in the interior parts of the south.
The red alert has been issued in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Kodagu and Shivamogga as they would get heavy rainfall.
As on Sunday, Cauvery and Krishna rivers were flowing above the danger mark, and the sluice gates of the dams were opened. Due to the release of water, many regions in the low-lying areas were inundated.
In the Cauvery basin, Krishnaraja Sagar Dam, Harangi, Hemavathi, and Kabini Dams were almost full.
In view of the swollen Cauvery river, the Mandya district administration put barricades near the Sri Nimishamba Temple near Ganjam in Srirangapatna Taluk to ensure the safety of public in general and pilgrims and tourists in particular.
"The public is not allowed to venture into the Cauvery River as a precautionary measure," read a statement issued by the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Mandya District Dr M V Venkatesh.
In Kodagu, the situation remained grim due to a heavy downpour and incidents of landslides were reported.
Congress state president D K Shivakumar, on a two-day tour of Kodagu from Saturday, visited many relief camps and spoke to the people there. Also, he inspected a few places which suffered severe damages due to landslides. Later, Shivakumar issued a statement saying the district has been suffering rain-related damages and all political parties should come to the aid of the people.
In Belagavi, reports emerged that youth got swept away in the rain.
In Mysuru, the Hebbal lake was overflowing.
Eighty relief camps have been set up to house 1,600 people as 278 houses have been fully damaged and 2,140 partially damaged, according to the Disaster Monitoring Centre.
A total of 23 animals have perished in the rains which destroyed 31,541 hectares of crops while inundating 35,000 hectares of horticultural crops. The State government has released Rs 50 crore as an initial amount to carry out relief and rehabilitation work.
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Air India's A350 aircraft enroute to London faces tech issue; returns to Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): Air India's A350 aircraft enroute to London Heathrow returned to the national capital due to a technical issue on Thursday afternoon after being airborne for nearly seven hours.
The same A350-900 aircraft VT-JRF had faced a technical issue on March 15, following which the plane operating the flight from New York to Delhi was diverted to the Irish town of Shannon, sources said.
An Air India spokesperson said its flight AI111, operating from Delhi to London on Thursday, made a precautionary air-return to the national capital following a suspected technical issue.
"The aircraft landed safely and consistent with Air India's high safety standards, it is currently subject to extensive technical evaluations, which will require additional time to complete," the spokesperson said in a statement.
According to the sources, noises were heard in the aircraft following which it was diverted.
The spokesperson also regretted the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to the unforeseen situation and said the airline was making every effort to ensure passengers are able to continue their journey to London at the earliest.
Details about the number of passengers onboard could not be ascertained.
The aircraft operating the flight AI111 was airborne for around four hours before the decision was taken to divert the plane when it was in the Saudi Arabia airspace. In total, the plane was airborne for nearly seven hours before landing back in the national capital, as per information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com.
The flight had taken off from Delhi around 6 am on Thursday and landed back at about 12.30 pm.
Air India started operating A350-900 planes from January 2024.
