28 killed, 22 missing as heavy rains hit north India; Delhi, UP on flood alert

Agencies
August 19, 2019

New Delhi, Aug 19: Heavy rains lashed northern parts, leaving at least 28 people dead and 22 missing in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab on Sunday, while a flood alert was sounded in parts of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Haryana has asked the Army to remain on standby after 8.14 lakh cusec water was released from the Hathini Kund barrage in the Yamuna river.

At least 22 people, including two Nepalese, were killed and nine others injured in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh, while three people died and 22 went missing following a cloudburst in Uttarakhand. Three people lost their lives in Punjab.

In southern India, the death toll in flood-ravaged Kerala climbed to 121 with the retrieval of more bodies. Ground Penetrating Radars were put into use to locate bodies at Kavalappara in Malappuram and Puthumala in Wayanad, where massive landslides had wiped out two villages.

Delhi witnessed rains with the maximum temperature settling at 29.7 degrees Celsius, four notches below the season's average, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 24.8 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average.

As the water level in the Yamuna river neared warning level, the Delhi government sounded a flood alert for the city and asked people living in the low-lying areas to move to safer places as the water level in the Yamuna river is expected to cross the danger mark, officials said.

An official said the Yamuna river was flowing at 203.37 metre on Sunday evening and its water level is expected to rise further in next 24 hours after 8.14 lakh cusec water was released from the Hathini Kund barrage in Harayana at 5 pm.

In Uttar Pradesh, several rivers, including Ganga, Yamuna and Ghaghra, are in spate. Ganga is flowing above the danger mark in Badaun, Garhmukteshwar, Naraura and Farrukhabad. Similarly, the Sharda river at Paliakalan and the Ghaghra river at Elginbridge are flowing above the red mark, the Central Water Commission said.

In Uttarakhand, three people were killed and around 22 went missing as heavy rains lashed the state. Cloudbursts in Mori block of Uttarkashi district wreaked havoc in several villages, damaging several houses in Arakot, Makuri and Tikochi villages. A woman was also washed away in Dehradun district when her car fell into a seasonal river, they said.

Heavy rains remained unabated in Himachal Pradesh, leaving at least 22 people, including two Nepalese, dead and nine others injured in rain-related incidents in the state.

Nine people died in Shimla, five in Solan, two each in Kullu, Sirmaur, Solan and Chamba and one each in Una and Lahaul-Spiti districts. Landslides hit a spot near the RTO office here, leaving three people dead. One person sustained injuries in the incident.

Due to heavy rains, district officials in the state have ordered closure of all educational institutions in Shimla and Kullu on Monday.

Gates of the Pandoh and the Nathpa Jhakri dams in Himachal Pradesh are being opened as the water level in the Beas and Sutlej rivers is very high. People have been requested to stay away from rivers, rivulets and streams to avoid any untoward incident, officials said.

Train services between Shimla and Kalka were disrupted on Sunday after multiple landslides blocked the rail route in the state.

Heavy rains remained unabated in Haryana and Punjab on Sunday causing floods in some parts, while authorities sounded a high alert in the two states.

Following heavy rains in Aol village of Punjab, three members of a family were killed when the roof of their house collapsed.

Eleven people, including four women, have been rescued after they got stuck when the overflowing water of Beas river flooded their village in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.

In Rajasthan, water has started receding and there was no flood-like situation anywhere in the state. An official said 49 people have died in rain-related incidents in the state since June 15 and 500 people have been evacuated from the rain-affected areas.

In West Bengal, weather in large parts of south Bengal, including the metropolis, improved after two days of torrential rain that led to waterlogging in many areas and snapped road links at several places.

Rains lashed several parts of Chennai and its neighbourhood with the MeT office predicting more showers during the next two days.

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News Network
December 5,2025

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New Delhi, Dec 5: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology this evening after more than a thousand flights were cancelled today, making it the "most severely impacted day" in terms of cancellations. The biggest airline of the country cancelled "more than half" of its daily number of flights on Friday, said Elbers. He also said that even though the crisis will persist on Saturday, the airline anticipates fewer than 1,000 flight cancellations.

"Full normalisation is expected between December 10 and 15, though IndiGo cautions that recovery will take time due to the scale of operations," the IndiGo CEO said. 

IndiGo operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily.

Pieter Elbers, while apologising for the major inconvenience due to delays and cancellations, said the situation is a result of various causes.

The crisis at IndiGo stems from new regulations that boost pilots' weekly rest requirements by 12 hours to 48 and allow only two night-time landings per week, down from six. IndiGo has attributed the mass cancellations to "misjudgment and planning gaps".

Elbers also listed three lines of action that the airline will adopt to address the issue.

"Firstly, customer communication and addressing your needs, for this, messages have been sent on social media. And just now, a more detailed communication with information, refunds, cancellations and other customer support measures was sent," he said.

The airline has also stepped up its call centre capacity.

"Secondly, due to yesterday's situation, we had customers stranded mostly at the nation's largest airports. Our focus was for all of them to be able to travel today itself, which will be achieved. For this, we also ask customers whose flights are cancelled not to come to the airports as notifications are sent," the CEO said.

"Thirdly, cancellations were made for today to align our crew and planes to be where they need to start tomorrow morning afresh. Earlier measures of the last few days, regrettable, have proven not to be enough, but we have decided today to reboot all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest numbers of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting from tomorrow," he added.

As airports witnessed chaotic scenes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stepped in to grant IndiGo a temporary exemption from stricter night duty rules for pilots. It also allowed substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period. 

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said a high-level inquiry will be ordered and accountability will be fixed.

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News Network
December 15,2025

Udupi, Dec 15: What was meant to be a post-pilgrimage gathering turned tragic in Padukere village of Brahmavar taluk, Udupi district, late Sunday night, when a clash among youths escalated into a fatal assault, leaving one man dead.

The victim has been identified as 30-year-old Santosh Mogaveera, a resident of Padukere.

According to preliminary information, the incident took place during a late-night drinking party involving a group of local youths who had recently returned after completing their pilgrimage to the Sabarimala shrine. An argument reportedly broke out among the group and soon escalated into a violent confrontation.

During the ensuing brawl, Santosh Mogaveera was allegedly assaulted and collapsed at the spot after sustaining serious injuries. He was rushed by local residents to a private hospital in Brahmavar, where doctors declared him dead.

On receiving information, senior police officials, including Brahmavar Circle Inspector Gopikrishna, Kota Police Sub-Inspector Praveen Kumar T, Station ASI Manthesh Jabagoudar, and head constables Pradeep and Ashok, visited the spot and conducted an inspection.

Police have taken four youths into custody in connection with the incident. A case has been registered at the Kota police station, and further investigation is underway to ascertain the exact sequence of events leading to the death.

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News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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