#chennai floods 2021

[flash-fresh]

Greater Chennai Corporation budget highlights: Focus on education, SWDs and other infrastructure work

Corporation school students who clear Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and get admission in institutes such as AIIMS, National Law School will be eligible for this benefit from this year onwards.

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) will cover the first-year tuition fee of their students who qualify in competitive exams and get admission in nationally-recognized institutions. The announcement was made on Monday when ruling DMK-led GCC presented its budget for 2023-24.Besides education, upgraded road infrastructure, storm water drains for flood mitigation, and increase in green spaces were the focus in the 2023-’24 budget for Chennai.

Corporation school students who clear Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and get admission in institutes such as AIIMS, National Law School will be eligible for this benefit from this year onwards.

“Separate guidelines will be issued on this soon,” said Chennai mayor R Priya. Corporation schools students from Class 9 to 12 will be chosen via an entrance test to coach them for competitive examinations.

Of the 64 announcements made in the last year’s budget, 35 projects have been completed, 28 are underway and one project will be done in 2023-24, said the mayor.

First Dalit woman from Chennai and the youngest ever to occupy this position, mayor Priya presented her second budget after the DMK formed the government in Tamil Nadu in May 2021 with a revenue deficit at ₹335 crore. The civic body projects a property tax collection of ₹1680 crores in 2023-2024.

The GCC allotted ₹1482.7 crore for construction of storm water drains, ₹881 crore for bus route roads under Singara Chennai 2.0 and ₹149.55 crore has been allocated under the Tamil Nadu Urban Road Infrastructure Fund (TURIF) for laying 1,335 bus route roads covering 251 km .

The corporation allocated ₹102.5 crore for constructing new bridges and widening the existing ones and ₹260.5 crore was allocated for solid waste management.

For converting open areas into parks and playgrounds, ₹77 crore has been allocated. The ward development fund of the councillors has been hiked from ₹35 lakh to ₹40 lakh annually and special work will be carried out under these funds. Read More On..

[tezlivenews]

पानी से लबालब भर गया 'मास्टर' Vijay की 'Beast' का सेट, धीमी हुई शूटिंग की रफ्तार

पानी से लबालब भर गया ‘मास्टर’ Vijay की ‘Beast’ का सेट, धीमी हुई शूटिंग की रफ्तार

Chennai floods 2021: तमिलनाडु (Tamilnadu) की राजधानी चेन्नई भारी बारिश (Chennai rain) से आम जनजीवन बेहाल है. शहर के कई इलाके पानी से लबालब भरे हुए हैं जिससे लोगों का सड़क पर पैदल चलना भी दुश्वार है. बहुत से लोगों के घरों में भी जलभराव की स्थिति है. इतना ही नहीं बाढ़ का पानी साउथ के मशहूर अभिनेता विजय (Vijay) की अपकमिंग फिल्म ‘Beast’ की शूटिंग वाले सेट के आस-पास भी पहुंच चुका है. इससे फिल्म की…

[newstfionline]

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Louisiana braces for ‘life-altering’ Hurricane Ida (AP) Residents across Louisiana’s coast Saturday were taking one last day to prepare for what is being described as a “life-altering” Hurricane Ida which is expected to bring winds as high as 140 mph (225 kph) when it slams ashore. A combination of voluntary and mandatory evacuations have been called for cities and communities across the region including New Orleans, where the mayor ordered a mandatory evacuation for areas outside the city’s levee system and a voluntary evacuation for residents inside the levee system. The storm is expected to make landfall on the exact date Hurricane Katrina devastated a large swath of the Gulf Coast 16 years earlier. But whereas Katrina was a Category 3 when it made landfall southwest of New Orleans, Ida is expected to reach an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, with top winds of 140 mph (225 kph) before making landfall likely west of New Orleans late Sunday. “This will be a life-altering storm for those who aren’t prepared,” National Weather Service meteorologist Benjamin Schott said during a Friday news conference with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards.

White House More Than Doubles Its Inflation Forecast in New Update (WSJ) The White House more than doubled its forecast for annual inflation in new projections released Friday, as supply-chain disruptions stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic continue to put upward pressure on prices. The Office of Management and Budget said it expected consumer prices would rise 4.8% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, up sharply from the 2% rise that the Biden administration forecast in May. Officials see those price pressures quickly abating next year, with the consumer-price index rising 2.5% in the fourth quarter of 2022, more than the 2.1% they expected in May, and reaching 2.3% in 2023.

Hurricane Nora on track to skirt along Mexico’s coast (AP) Hurricane Nora formed Saturday in the eastern Pacific on a forecast track that would bring it near the Puerto Vallarta area and then head toward a close encounter with resorts at the tip of Baja California Peninsula. Nora had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph) Saturday morning, with tropical storm force winds extending out 175 miles (280 kilometers) from the center in some places. The storm’s large wind field and heavy rains mean much of Mexico’s central and northern Pacific Coast could see floods, mudslides and perilous surf even if it misses the very heart of the hurricane.

Brazil water survey heightens alarm over extreme drought (AP) The Brazilian scientists were skeptical. They ran different models to check calculations, but all returned the same startling result. The country with the most freshwater resources on the planet steadily lost 15% of its surface water since 1991. Gradual retreat in the Brazilian share of the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland, left water covering just one-quarter the area it did 30 years ago. And the data only went through 2020—before this year’s drought that is Brazil’s worst in nine decades. The ongoing drought has already boosted energy costs and food prices, withered crops, rendered vast swaths of forest more susceptible to wildfire and prompted specialists to warn of possible electricity shortages. President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday said hydroelectric dam reservoirs are “at the limit of the limit.” Brazil’s energy minister Bento Albuquerque on Aug. 25 called a press conference to deny the possibility of rationing, while at the same time calling on companies and people to reduce power consumption.

UN team: Unclear if Fukushima cleanup can finish by 2051 (AP) Too little is known about melted fuel inside damaged reactors at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, even a decade after the disaster, to be able to tell if its decommissioning can be finished by 2051 as planned, a U.N. nuclear agency official said Friday. “Honestly speaking, I don’t know, and I don’t know if anybody knows,” said Christophe Xerri, head of an International Atomic Energy Agency team reviewing progress in the plant’s cleanup. A massive earthquake and a tsunami in March 2011 destroyed cooling systems at the Fukushima plant in northeastern Japan, triggering meltdowns in three reactors in the worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl accident. Japanese government and utility officials say they hope to finish its decommissioning within 30 years, though some experts say that’s overly optimistic, even if a full decommissioning is possible at all.

As China-Taiwan Tensions Rise, Japan Begins Preparing for Possible Conflict (WSJ) China’s growing assertiveness toward Taiwan has triggered a public push by Japanese leaders to plan for a possible conflict. Tokyo officials, normally wary of upsetting Beijing, are speaking openly about preparing for a crisis and supporting Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by China, despite Japan’s pacifist constitution. Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso said recently in a speech to supporters that Japan and the U.S. should plan together to defend the island in the event of hostilities. In its annual regional security review, Japan said there a “greater sense of crisis than ever before” regarding Taiwan, after China stepped up maneuvers by its ships and aircraft nearby. Major Japanese military drills starting in September are expected to further help Tokyo prepare for any trouble in areas including Taiwan, current and former Japanese officials say.

American forces keep up airlift under high threat warnings (AP) American forces working under heightened security and threats of another attack pressed ahead in the closing days of the U.S.-led evacuation from Afghanistan after a devastating suicide bombing, and U.S. officials said they had killed two members of the extremist group that the United States believes responsible for it. Thursday’s bombing marked one of the most lethal attacks the country has seen. The U.S. said it was the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since 2011. Around the world, newly arriving Afghan evacuees, many clutching babies and bare handfuls of belongings in plastic bags, stepped off evacuation flights in the United States, in Albania, in Belgium and beyond. More than 110,000 people have been safely evacuated through the Kabul airport, according to the U.S., but thousands more are struggling to leave.

U.S. military begins withdrawal from Kabul airport (Reuters) U.S. troops have begun their withdrawal from Kabul airport, the Pentagon said on Saturday, as the evacuation efforts from the Afghan capital entered their final stages. President Joe Biden sent thousands of troops to the airport as the Taliban swept through Afghanistan earlier this month to help evacuate American citizens, at-risk Afghans and other foreigners desperate to flee. At the peak of the deployment there were 5,800 U.S. troops securing Hamid Karzai International Airport, where an unprecedented airlift operation is set to end by Tuesday.

From garbage to garden, Nairobi resident helps slum bloom (Reuters) A decade ago, a patch of land in Nairobi’s Dandora district was a dumping ground for the trash of the city’s wealthier residents with scarcely a plant to be seen. Now, children play on the grass and locals relax among avocado trees as birds sing in the branches above. The lush community garden has even become the backdrop for rappers and other creatives to shoot their videos. This transformation is thanks to Charles Gachanga, 45, who grew up in the neighbourhood back when it reeked of garbage. “We came and cleaned ... We did not even have a penny,” said Gachanga, who started working in 2013 on the garden space, called Mustard Seed, with three friends. “We just had that focus, we had that passion to see how we could transform our neighbourhood.” Their project has inspired a network of similar community-built green spaces, 20 alone in Dandora, he said. Maintenance costs are covered by community contributions. Residents living near Gachanga’s green space pay 100 shillings a month, less than $1, for maintenance. People without the funds often volunteer, planting trees or cleaning, Gachanga said.

15 more students freed in Nigeria after release of 90 others (AP) Overjoyed parents awaited the return of 90 young schoolchildren who had spent three months held by gunmen as authorities elsewhere in northern Nigeria announced a second group of 15 students also had been released. The news was celebrated across Nigeria, where more than 1,000 students have been kidnapped from schools since December. The abductions have stepped up pressure on the Nigerian government to do more to secure educational facilities in remote areas.

How water shortages are brewing wars (BBC Future) As much as a quarter of the world's population now faces severe water scarcity at least one month out of the year and it is leading many to seek a more secure life in other countries. "If there is no water, people will start to move," says Kitty van der Heijden, chief of international cooperation at the Netherlands' foreign ministry and an expert in hydropolitics. Water scarcity affects roughly 40% of the world's population and, according to predictions by the United Nations and the World Bank, drought could put up to 700 million people at risk of displacement by 2030. People like van der Heijden are concerned about what that could lead to. "If there is no water, politicians are going to try and get their hands on it and they might start to fight over it," she says. Over the course of the 20th Century, global water use grew at more than twice the rate of population increase. Today, this dissonance is leading many cities—from Rome to Cape Town, Chennai to Lima—to ration water. Water crises have been ranked in the top five of the World Economic Forum's Global Risks by Impact list nearly every year since 2012. In 2017, severe droughts contributed to the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two, when 20 million people across Africa and the Middle East were forced to leave their homes due to the accompanying food shortages and conflicts that erupted. Peter Gleick, head of the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, has spent the last three decades studying the link between water scarcity, conflict and migration and believes that water conflict is on the rise. "With very rare exceptions, no one dies of literal thirst," he says. "But more and more people are dying from contaminated water or conflicts over access to water."

The year of COVID burnout (The Week) “September was supposed to mark the beginning of a new normal,” said Katherine Bindley at The Wall Street Journal. Instead, for many workers, the spread of the Delta variant is déjà vu all over again. Companies of all sizes are delaying plans to return to the office, and outbreaks have already forced some schools to shut down. It’s left many workers “in an anxiety-producing state of limbo.” As the pandemic drags on, more people are struggling with exhaustion, loss, and isolation, and “employees’ mental health is quickly becoming a top concern,” said Erica Pandey at Axios. In addition to seeing more employees quit, “a whopping 52 percent of U.S. employers say they are ��experiencing significant workplace issues’ with substance misuse or addiction by employees,” according to a new survey. Forty-four percent of workers now say they feel fatigued on the job, up from 34 percent in 2020. Some companies are going to great lengths to boost worker morale, said Jenny Gross at The New York Times. LinkedIn, Bumble, and Intuit recently “introduced weeklong companywide shutdowns so employees can fully disconnect.” PricewaterhouseCoopers is even “offering workers $250 each time they take 40 consecutive hours off.” Recognizing that extended vacations might not benefit workers hesitant about travel, Adobe began giving the entire company a day off one Friday per month. Before the pandemic, “I had a solid division between my work and home life,” said Cody Barbo at Fast Company. “Now everything has sort of blended together.” My company has added a monthly flex day that employees can take off for their “mental health.” We’ve also added guest speakers, virtual happy hours, and stipends for work-from-home costs.

[rivaltimes]

At least 13 dead after a heavy downpour floods a sacred cave in northern India

At least 13 dead after a heavy downpour floods a sacred cave in northern India

FILE – File image of torrential rains in Chennai, South India, in November 2021. – Sri Loganathan/ZUMA Press Wire/d / DPA – File At least thirteen people have died and another 40 are missing after a shrine located in the sacred cave of Amarnath in the Jammu and Kashmir region of northern India was flooded due to heavy rains. The violent downpour has begun to fall this Friday around 5:30 a.m.…

[cloudtales]

Chennai's floods: the city has learned nothing from the past – here's what it can do

Chennai’s floods: the city has learned nothing from the past – here’s what it can do

Chennai’s floods: the city has learned nothing from the past – here’s what it can do Idrees Mohammed/EPA November 2021 was a devastating month for flooding in the city of Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu in southern India. With 1,000mm of rainfall in just four weeks, these were the worst rains since the devastating floods of 2015 when it poured for 22 out 30 days in December, setting a record of…

[innocentamit]

ATMs are stored during the rainy season in Chennai: CMS

ATMs are stored during the rainy season in Chennai: CMS

CMS Info Systems Ltd. said it had ensured that government bank ATMs were operating in the aftermath of the storm and floods in Chennai. Chennai experienced heavy rainfall in November 2021, but more than 1,800 ATMs of 29 banks and 10 operators operated by service providers (MSPs) continue to operate, the CMS said. The southern city experienced heavy rainfall on November 27 and 28, 2021 and earlier…

[technomoz]

Slideshow | Chennai rains: November 28, 2021

Slideshow | Chennai rains: November 28, 2021

Amid the continuing rains, residents of Chennai and its suburbs are experiencing flooding with many roads and subways closed to traffic, while overflow water from reservoirs continues. Reservoirs, including Poondi and Chembarambakkam here that cater to Chennai’s drinking water, have released more than 10,500 cups of surplus water. credits Photos: Bijoy Ghosh Text: PTI .

[rudhradev]

madipakam flood 2021/flood in chennai/chennai flood/ madipakkam flood 2021

[vgopalakrishnan]

#Ri-Store.. Why do we need to act now?!

Why do we urgently need to save our water bodies?!

Places like Chennai were blessed with a significant number of water bodies which included lakes, tanks, rivers and canals. Most were natural formations, few were artificially created. Water bodies in general play specific roles in conserving and preserving our ecosystem. For instance, lakes act as storage places when rains provide excess water. Rivers carry the water from the source till its destination providing crucial life lines to the settlements along the flow. 

Chennai came in for a rude shock in 2015 when the floods unleashed untold miseries and pains on the people across several localities. Needless to say, people in the low lying areas and encroached areas were badly affected when the flood waters marooned many places. Even before the shock is forgotten, we have had 2021 floods which were not as massive as they were in 2015, but several areas were inundated and yet to recover from the mess. The signals provided by nature are ominous and cannot either be ignored or missed. 

It's high time citizens gather awareness on the need and the compulsion to both revive and preserve our precious water bodies. For that, we need to broadly understand the roles of the water bodies in our ecosystem.

How do water bodies save and nurture ecosystems?

#Ri-Store

Broadly water bodies perform the twin functions of Ri-Store - Risk mitigation and Storage.

Risk mitigation: The primary and important role of all the water bodies is disaster risk mitigation. In the previous floods, many of the rivers were not properly dredged and because of that, the intake into the rivers got compressed forcing the rain waters to spill over into the residential areas and neighbourhoods. Many lakes were swindled and the waters overpowered the residential buildings built over the lakes. Water bodies are an excellent source to mitigate natural disasters like floods, only if they are kept in good condition and properly maintained. Swindling of lakes for residential buildings caused severe flooding and inundation in the lake areas. No other way other than reviving and nurturing water bodies can be effective for disaster risk mitigation. 

Storage: Water is getting precious by the day. And a city like Chennai with the urge for a constant thirst, is heavily dependent on external sources for our daily needs if the local reserves run short supply. The thirst of the city keeps growing as more and more people migrate to Chennai in search of jobs and livelihoods. In the years of satisfactory rains, we may be able to manage from the city's reservoirs. We struggle once the water storages turn insufficient to handle the needs of the residents. We, in fact, are paying the price of swindling lakes and reducing the prospects of water storage. What we need are more and more water bodies by way of revival so as to ensure the waters from the rains are not allowed to go waste into the seas. When the existing water bodies are not dredged in a proper way, the storage capacities shrink in a big way. Water bodies are a natural source of water storage. The other factors which demand a better water-body system -

Transportation: Till the early 20th Century, water bodies, mainly the rivers and canals of Chennai were used as a means of transportation of both goods and the passengers. In fact, migration to chennai has largely been due to the excellent waterways prevalent during those years. At one point Chennai was connected with North and the South to the extent of 800 KMs just by a single canal, which transported goods and people from various places. With our lives more and more dependent on costly oil, it is important for us to look at waterways which can become a lot cheaper for transportation. With the Chennai city getting choked with high traffic, it would be atrocious on our part if we do not tap the existing water bodies like rivers and seas for means of transportation.  Tourism: Water bodies are a major source of tourist attraction and good impressions about the City. People traveling to London will always carry good stories & memories about river Thames. Chennai also needs to project a better face if it has to score on tourism and attracting industrial investments. Water bodies like Adyar and Cooum rivers could be converted into functional ones which augment tourist attraction and also give a good impression about Chennai's infrastructure.

Less Co2: If the water bodies like the rivers are activated, it could be another means of transport which can potentially save carbon footprints through vehicle pollution. As such, Chennai's pollution levels have shot up significantly over the last 25 years because of high number of vehicles. Chennai has the highest number of two wheelers in the country. Such a scenario demands an alternative means of transportation and what else could be better other than the rivers we have in our midst. Many cities do not have the luxury of alternative transportation like we have in Chennai.

Cultural heritage: Water bodies speak volumes about our rich cultural heritage. There would hardly be countable number of cities around the World which may have rivers flowing right through the city and Chennai could be counted one among them. We need to be proud of our water bodies like the rivers and take efforts to revive them. We can’t afford to destroy our cultural heritage symbols. Ecosystem - Water bodies enhance the overall ecosystem of a region. With an active marine life and bird migration, it activates the entire ecosystem in a positive way. Societies which have a holistic and inclusive ecosystem have always prospered. We need to live amidst more birds, more marine species which can enhance our overall ecosystem. Right now most of our water bodies, mainly the rivers are unsuitable to the natives of those water bodies.

2015 floods served the first warning and 2021 the second one. We need to wake from our slumber and swing into action by involving all the stakeholders to bring about meaningful change to our ecosystem. Chennai needs to focus on "Ri-Store", an efficient water body system which can reduce the risks of disaster and be a store houses of precious water.  Chennai needs it water bodies back in functional form if we need to have disaster risk free lives!

[mannvasanaitimes]

Watch "தத்தளிக்கும் சென்னை தற்போதைய நிலை |Chennai flood Relief |Media is not covering all the areas" on YouTube

[hummingzone]

Heavy rains expected to ease in India, Sri Lanka; 25 dead By Reuters

Heavy rains expected to ease in India, Sri Lanka; 25 dead By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People wade through a flooded beach after heavy rainfall in Chennai, India, November 8, 2021. REUTERS/P. Ravikumar By Sudarshan Varadhan CHENNAI (Reuters) – Heavy rains that have killed at least 25 people in southern India and Sri Lanka are likely to ease in the next few days, weather officials said on Thursday. A bulletin of the Indian Meteorological Department forecast…

[athibanenglish]

I left Chennai, to stagger and set out to style in the rain .... Union Chief Stalin's play begins ..!

I left Chennai, to stagger and set out to style in the rain …. Union Chief Stalin’s play begins ..!

Chief Minister Stalin started his style of play as one day I left Chennai to stagger in the rain and explore in the rain. It has been raining incessantly in Chennai since 06-11-2021. The rains continued yesterday morning and flooded the roads. Water seeped into houses as rainwater surrounded the low-lying areas. Rainwater from the roads overflowed and overflowed the road. The underpass was mixed…

[doonitedin]

After 6 year gap, Chennai sees intense showers in 24-hours

After 6 year gap, Chennai sees intense showers in 24-hours

Image Source : PTI Commuters wade through a waterlogged area following heavy rain in Chennai, Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021. A flood alert has been sounded to people living in Chennai suburbs. After a hiatus of six years, heavy to very heavy overnight rains pounded Chennai and its suburbs, leading to water-logging everywhere, with the deluge entering houses in low-lying areas on Sunday and the sluice…

[sachkiawaaj]

Tamil Nadu weather update: Heavy rains lash Chennai, flood alert sounded

Tamil Nadu weather update: Heavy rains lash Chennai, flood alert sounded

New Delhi: Heavy rains on Sunday (November 7, 2021) continued to lash Chennai and its suburban areas with authorities sounding a preliminary flood alert to people as two city reservoirs are set to be opened. The authorities have informed that the Chembarambakkam and Puzhal reservoirs, which serve as important sources of drinking water to Chennai city, would be opened to let out surplus rainwater…

[khyatigautam]

Neck-Deep! by Neelesh Kumar

Neck-Deep! by Neelesh Kumar

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Redgrab Books pvt ltd; First edition (12 July 2021); http://www.Redgrabbooks.com Language ‏ : ‎ English Paperback ‏ : ‎ 188 pages ‘Neck-Deep!’ by Neelesh Kumar is a fictional account set around the 2015 Chennai floods that devastated the Southern city of India. Revolving around three best friends, Sachin, Rohit, and Neha, this story showcases the reality one has to go through…