33 Philippine miners dead in typhoon-triggered landslides
Manila, Sep 17 : At least 33 miners were confirmed dead and 29 others missing in the mining town of Itogon in the northern Philippine Benguet province due to typhoon-triggered landslides, authorities said on Sunday.
Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan said in local radio interviews that landslides had blocked roads, making relief rescue efforts difficult, Xinhua reported.
In Ucab village of Itogon, he said, two bunkhouses with an estimated 100 people living inside were buried by mud and rubble triggered by Typhoon Mangkhut on Saturday.
"I can't begin to accept this, but it looks like the casualties here are going to go up to at least 100," Palangdan said.
Most of Itogon residents work as miners in small scale mining industry while the rest are in farming. Most mine workers built boot camps around the mining area with their families.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines have sent troops to the disaster area to help in the rescue and retrieval efforts. But rescuers said the buried bunkhouses were built at a steep angle, making it difficult to implement rescue.
Meanwhile, the regional police of Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) said at least 49 people have so far died in the region that bore the brunt of the typhoon. Fourteen others are missing, the police said. Thirty-two people were also injured, the police added.
The Cordillera Administrative Region, which consists seven provinces, is the only land-locked region of the Philippines. The regional centre is Baguio City, officially known as the Summer Capital of the Philippines.
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Karnataka plans 100-acre aqua park to boost fishing sector
Bengaluru: Karnataka is planning to set up a 100-acre integrated aqua park aimed at promoting fishing. The proposed park will offer end-to-end facilities, including fish farming, storage facilities and sports fishing.
According to a report published by Deccan Herald on Sunday, a senior official from the Karnataka Fisheries Department said the aqua park is part of a concept introduced by the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The idea is to develop hubs that support the entire fishing value chain from fish seed production and feed to processing and market access.
According to the plan, the aqua park will include nine major facilities like farming of fish food, generating of fish seeds, development of fish seeds, fish farming, cold processing units, development of ornamental fish for aquariums, well-equipped market, fish transport facilities, and sports fishing.
The fisheries department has shortlisted three locations for the project, Byndoor in Udupi, Malavalli in Mandya and Almatti in Bijapur. One of these locations will be finalised based on land availability, after which a Detailed Project Report (DPR) will be prepared and sent to the Union government for approval.
“We have received proposals for three locations. All of them have water bodies close by and hence there is a demand for fishing. However, space is the main criteria. If we are able to get 100 acres, we will go ahead and prepare a detailed project report (DPR) to be submitted to the central ministry,” DH quoted Dinesh Kumar Kaller, director, Karnataka fisheries department as saying.
At Malavalli, near Gaganachukki, around 75 acres of land has been identified and a request has been sent to the Revenue Department. The revenue department has said that the land belongs to the forest department and talks are on. We are also looking at other locations, Kaller reportedly said.
As per the report, at present, only 11 states have an aqua park approved under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and Karnataka is confident that its proposal would also be accepted soon.
