Agartala:

The death count from the recent rains and floods in Tripura has risen to 20, officials said on Thursday. This increase follows the deaths of at least seven more people from two families, including three women and a child, who were killed in landslides. The state is experiencing its most severe monsoon flooding in over 30 years

Disaster Management officials said that seven members of two families died at Santirbazar in South Tripura district when their houses collapsed due to a massive landslide triggered by incessant rain late on Wednesday night.

Disaster Management Response Force personnel, along with local people, recovered all the bodies on Thursday.

Expressing his shock at the incident, Chief Minister Manik Saha said that the state government would provide Rs 4 lakh as financial assistance to each affected family.

Earlier 13 deaths, including that of a 12-year-old girl and a woman, were reported from South Tripura, Gomati, and Khowai districts since Monday and two persons were also said to be missing.

An official said that around 65,500 people are taking shelter in 450 relief camps in all eight districts. He said that 17 lakh people were affected in the entire state, which witnessed the devastating floods since Monday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded 233 mm rainfall in Agartala from 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday to 8.30 a.m. on Thursday.

According to IMD, all eight districts in Tripura received one of the highest levels of rainfall in the last 24 hours on Thursday with South Tripura district’s Bogafa, under the Santirbazar sub-division, recording 493.6 mm rainfall.

An IMD official said that though a ‘heavy’ to ‘very heavy’ rainfall alert has been continued and a ‘Red alert’ sounded in all eight districts, the intensity of rain is likely to reduce from Thursday night.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

At least three pilgrims, including two from Maharashtra, were killed in a landslide triggered by rains when they were en route to Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath temple today, officials said.

Eight people were also injured in the accident, which occurred near the Chirbasa area on the Gaurikund-Kedarnath trekking route in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district. They have been taken to a hospital.

The third victim has been identified as a resident of Rudraprayag.

“Devotees were buried under the debris at Chirbasa on the Kedarnath Yatra route. Teams of the State Disaster Response Force and District Disaster Response Force are carrying out rescue operations,” Rudraprayag’s District Magistrate posted on X.

“Efforts to minimise the possibility of injuries and loss of life. The district administration continuously requests travellers to stay in a safe place,” the senior official added.

केदारनाथ यात्रा मार्ग के चीरबासा पर अचानक मलबा आने से दबे यात्री ॥
SDRF, DDRF और YMD रेस्क्यू का कार्य कर रहे है।
घायल और जनहानि की संभावना को कम से कम रखने के प्रयास ॥
जिला प्रशासन लगातार यात्रियों से सुरक्षित जगह रुकने का अनुरोध करता है।#mansoon#chardhamyatra2024pic.twitter.com/51kK0W6mSK

— DM Rudraprayag (@DmRudraprayag) July 21, 2024

Earlier in the day, the Gangotri National Highway near Bishanpur was closed due to a landslide.

#RouteUpdate

गंगोत्री राष्ट्रीय राजमार्ग बिशनपुर सैंज के पास मालवा व पत्थर आने के कारण बाधित है।BRO द्वारा मार्ग को सुचारु करने का कार्य किया जा रहा है। पुलिस टीम मौके पर है। pic.twitter.com/9lNynOGowi

— Uttarkashi Police Uttarakhand (@UttarkashiPol) July 21, 2024

Landslides triggered by heavy rains over the past few weeks have left some of Uttarakhand’s key highways blocked.

The weather office has issued a red alert in Uttarakhand for Sunday and Monday and said parts of the state are likely to receive extremely heavy rainfall in the period.

Char Dham Yatra

Kedarnath temple is part of the Char Dham Yatra, which began on May 10 this year. The Char Dham Yatra, during which devotees also cover Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath, holds profound spiritual significance in Hinduism and the journey typically occurs from April-May to October-November.

It is believed that one should complete the Char Dham Yatra in a clockwise direction. So, the pilgrimage starts from Yamunotri, proceeds towards Gangotri, onto Kedarnath, and finally ends at Badrinath.

Bengaluru:

Four people were killed and three others went missing in a massive landslide triggered by heavy rains in the Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka, a senior officer said.

The landslide occurred near Shirur village in Ankola Taluk on National Highway 66 on Tuesday.

Seven people include four members of a family, Uttara Kannada Deputy Commissioner Lakshmi Priya told ANI on Wednesday.

“There was a major landslide in Shirur in Ankola Talluk. There was a tea stall with five members: husband, wife, two children and one elderly person. The landslide had happened on the opposite side of the river. There were two houses, in which one person was missing,” she said.

“So these six people and there were gas tankers, of which one driver was suspected to be missing. Of these seven people, we have recovered four bodies. Three people are still missing,” DC Priya added.

DC Priya further added that, out of three tankers, two are unloaded. “So those two are safe. The one that is inside the river is loaded. It has gas.”

DC Priya further added that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team of 24 members, including a fire service team has undertaken the rescue operation.

“We have the support of the Navy and Coast Guard, who are within the district. They have given us their safety gear as well as personnel to handle the operation. We also have this quick response team from the gas companies.”

She said that the National Highway Authority of India is trying to clear one side of the road to allow traffic, which came to a halt following the landslide.

“As per NHAI’s report, they are trying to clear one side of the road so that they can allow the traffic to pass, which will happen again depending on the rain. We expect it to be done in another 24 to 48 hours, but the entire excavation will take some time…,” she added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Guwahati:

One person was killed today when a taxi travelling on National Highway-10 from Lingi to Singtam in Sikkim’s Gangtok was hit by a large boulder. The accident was caused due to a landslide.

The incident comes amidst the monsoon’s severe impact on Sikkim, with NH 10—vital for connecting the state with the rest of the country—facing intermittent closures due to landslides and rising Teesta River levels. The alternative route via Kalimpong and Darjeeling districts is also frequently disrupted by landslides.

Sikkim’s Pakyong Airport has been non-operational since the start of the monsoon season, and helicopter services remain cancelled throughout this period.

Despite the challenges, the Sikkim government continues to press for NH 10’s maintenance by central agencies, emphasizing its critical role in national security and facilitating Army movements. This demand was reiterated by Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang in discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Union Ministers.

Moreover, NH 10 and the Teesta River banks are still recovering from the damage caused by a glacial lake outburst flood in October last year. While state-led mitigation efforts are underway, ongoing rains have impeded restoration work.

The authorities in North Bengal and Sikkim have issued multiple warnings regarding incessant rainfall and travel advisories, underscoring the precarious conditions faced by commuters and residents alike during this challenging period.

In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), rescuers prepare to head out to the site of a landslide that killed a number of people, in Suwawa on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia on July 8, 2024. Photo: BASARNAS via AP

Rescue workers searched for dozens of missing people on July 9, digging through tons of mud and the rubble left by a landslide that hit an unauthorised traditional gold mining area on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island and killed at least 11 people.

More than 100 villagers were digging for grains of gold on July 7 in the remote and hilly village of Bone Bolango when tons of mud plunged down the surrounding hills and buried their makeshift camps, said Heriyanto, head of the provincial Search and Rescue Office.

Rescue operations

Rescuers recovered six more bodies buried under tons of mud in a devastated hamlet where the gold mine is located.

“Improved weather allowed us to recover more bodies,” said Heriyanto, who goes by a single name, like many Indonesians.

According to data released on July 9 by his office, some 52 villagers managed to escape from landslide, about 23 people were pulled out alive by rescuers, including 18 injured, and 17 bodies were recovered, including three women and a 4-year-old boy. Some 45 others are missing, it said.

National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said torrential rains that have pounded the mountainous district since July 6 triggered the landslide and broke an embankment, causing floods up to the roofs of houses in five villages in Bone Bolango, which is part of a mountainous district in Gorontalo Province. Nearly 300 houses were affected and more than 1,000 people fled for safety

Challenging Rescue Operations Amid Adverse Conditions

Authorities deployed more than 200 rescuers, including police and military personnel, with heavy equipment to search for the dead and missing in a rescue operation that has been hampered by heavy rains, unstable soil, and the rugged, forested terrain, said Afifuddin Ilahude, a local rescue official.

“With many missing and some remote areas still unreachable, the death toll was likely to rise,” Mr. Ilahude said, adding that sniffer dogs were also being mobilized in the search.

Videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency show rescue personnel using farm tools and sometimes their bare hands, pulling a mud-caked body from the thick mud before placing it in a black bag to take away for burial.

Monsoon rains cause frequent landslides and flash floods in Indonesia, an archipelago nation of more than 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near floodplains.

Informal mining operations in Indonesia

Informal mining operations are common in Indonesia, providing a tenuous livelihood to thousands who labour in conditions with a high risk of serious injury or death. Landslides, flooding and collapses of tunnels are just some of the hazards facing miners. Much of gold ore processing involves highly toxic mercury and cyanide and workers frequently use little or no protection.

The country’s last major mining-related accident occurred in April 2022, when a landslide crashed onto an illegal traditional gold mine in North Sumatra’s Mandailing Natal district, killing 12 women who were looking for gold.

In February 2019, a makeshift wooden structure in an illegal gold mine in North Sulawesi province collapsed due to shifting soil and the large number of mining holes. More than 40 people were buried and died.

Landslides triggered by heavy rainfall on June 29 killed at least nine people including an entire family while they were sleeping in Nepal’s mountainous districts, officials said.

The landslides buried houses in three separate areas in the country’s mountainous region, about 250 kilometers (156 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu, according to Nepal’s National Disaster Rescue and Reduction Management Authority.

Five members of the same family were killed when their house was swallowed by a landslide while they were asleep at Malika village in Gulmi district. The victims included a couple, their daughter-in-law and two grandchildren including an 8-month-old girl.

Two more people were killed in neighboring Baglung district and another two in Syangja districts, officials said.

The monsoon season that brings heavy rainfall in Nepal began earlier this month. It generally triggers landslides in the mountainous areas that cover most part of this Himalayan nation, causing deaths and damage until September.

Guwahati:

At least 36 people were killed in heavy rains and landslides in four northeastern states on Tuesday under the impact of Cyclone Remal while normal life came to a grinding halt in all the eight states of the region with road and rail links affected, officials said.

While 27 people were killed in Mizoram, including 21 in a quarry collapse in Aizawl district, four deaths were reported in Nagaland, three in Assam, and two in Meghalaya.

The rains, accompanied by gusty winds, triggered landslides, uprooted trees and electric poles, and disrupted power and internet services.

In view of waterlogging between the New Haflong-Jatinga Lampur section and Ditokcherra yard under the Lumding division of Northeast Frontier Railway, many trains were either cancelled or partially cancelled and rescheduled.

In Mizoram, at least 27 people, including 21 in a collapsed stone quarry, were killed and 10 others were missing in multiple landslides in Aizawl district.

Disaster management and police officials said that 21 bodies had been recovered so far from the quarry site between Melthum and Hlimen in the Aizawl while several others were still trapped under the debris following the collapse in the morning. Six died and many others were missing following incidents of landslides at Salem, Aibawk, Lungsei, Kelsih, and Falkawn in the district.

In Nagaland, at least four people died in different incidents while more than 40 houses have been damaged in various parts of the state.

A minor boy drowned at a river near Laruri village under the Meluri subdivision of Phek district, while two other incidents of drowning were reported from Doyang Dam in the Wokha district, an official said. An elderly man was crushed to death after a wall collapsed in Phek.

In Assam, three persons were killed while 17 others were injured in Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), and Morigaon districts. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), a tree branch fell on a school bus in Dhekiajuli of Sonitpur district, injuring 12 students. Five others were injured in different incidents in Morigaon.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed grief over the loss of lives.

ASDMA officials said that heavy storms occurred in the Bongaigaon, Chirang, Darrang, Dhubri, Hojai, Kamrup, Kamrup Metro, Karbi Anglong, Kokrajhar, Morigaon, Nagaon, Sonitpur, South Salmara and West Karbi Anglong districts.

In Meghalaya, two persons died and over 100 others were injured as heavy rain lashed the state, officials said on Tuesday. Officials said one death was reported from East Jaintia Hills and another in a car accident in East Khasi Hills district. The relentless downpour damaged a large number of houses in 17 villages. Landslides were reported on the Shillong-Mawlai Bypass and at Bivar Road in Oakland, while flashfloods took place in Langkyrding, Pynthorbah, Polo, Sawfurlong, and Demseiniong areas.

In Tripura, heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds of 50 to 60 km per hour lashed most parts of the state during the past 24 hours, damaging 470 houses and forcing 750 people to take shelter in 15 relief camps in different districts.

Briefing media in Agartala, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sushant Chowdhury said that during the past 24 hours, the state recorded an average of 215.5 mm rainfall with Unakoti district recording the highest, at 252.4 mm.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a high alert with a forecast of extremely heavy rainfall. Chief Minister Pema Khandu requested the people to take all precautionary measures and avoid vulnerable and isolated locations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

New high-resolution satellite imagery from Friday accessed by NDTV shows the exact site of the breach at the high-altitude South Lhonak Lake in Sikkim which resulted in disastrous floods, causing the loss of at least 50 lives.

Significantly, the images show exposed parts of the lake’s banks, indicating that the water level continues to drop significantly after draining out of the breach, and causing massive floods along the Teesta River basin downstream.

There is also evidence of a landslide, which may been a contributing factor in the lake bursting its banks. 

“The glacier has significant snow presently, and this snowpack might have exerted tremendous pressure on the snout of the lake, which gave rise to the breach,” said Arup R Dasgupta, Managing Editor of Geospatial World (formerly GIS Development) magazine, and a veteran ISRO imagery expert. 

The South Lhonak Lake is located at an altitude of 17,100 feet in the upper reaches of northern Sikkim, not too far from the India-China boundary. 

The new images show the exact area where there was a breach in the glacial lake.  One of the images indicates that water continued to flow out from the lake even on Friday, three days after it burst its banks. 

As a result of the decreased level of water in the lake, a large area of the shoreline is now exposed, an area which was under water just three days ago. 

In fact, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists have already stated that the area covered by the lake reduced by more than half, with only an estimated 60.3 hectares of water in it.

The South Lhonak Lake was also fed by glacial run-off from the retreating North Lhonak glacier and the main Lhonak glacier. This increased the lake’s surface area by 500 metres and average depth by 50 metres, Dr SN Remya, the lead scientist of the 2013 paper, said.

Images from February this year show that the lake was entirely frozen, though a pattern of fractures on the surface of the ice is clearly visible. 

However, Friday’s image shows a large volume of broken ice, and ice floes (sheets of floating ice), on the surface of the lake. It is not clear if the ice gave way because of the flow of underlying water which rushed to the breach or had melted substantially over the summer months. 

“The ice cover on the lake in the first images shows a regular fracture pattern, which indicates that the ice sheet was under pressure, possibly from the glacier. This pressure was perhaps increased due to fresh snow on the glacier as seen in the second image. This might have led to the breach,” said Mr Dasgupta.

The image from October 6 also shows clear evidence of a landslide on one of the banks of South Lhonak Lake. It is unclear if the landside resulted in the displacement of water and was a contributory factor, which resulted in the lake breaching its banks.

“In Sikkim, lake-terminating glaciers have shown accelerated growth… South Lhonak glacier is no different. It is one of the fastest-retreating glaciers and the associated proglacial South Lhonak Lake has become the largest and fastest-growing in the state… this has raised concerns about hazard potentials as downstream (areas) are heavily populated…” a study published in the journal Geomorphology highlighted in 2021.