Tag: Bihar flood

Protesting Bihar Politician Takes Waste-filled Tractor to Minister’s Door Step, Fined for Driving Sans Licence

Source: news18.com

Patna: Maverick politician Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav was fined on Thursday for driving without a valid licence a tractor-trolley full of garbage that he threatened to dump in front of a state minister’s residence in Patna, police said.

Yadav, a controversial former MP who has floated the Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), said he did this in protest against the state government’s “failure” to check the outbreak of dengue, which has afflicted more than 200 people in the city since the beginning of this month when heavy rain had left many pockets water-logged for several days.

The police said he was stopped and fined Rs 5,000 as he was carrying a licence to drive light motor vehicles, which expired in 2017, and not one to drive heavy vehicles.

“I have been deprived of my fundamental right to register a protest. I have a licence but they have come up with the challan on a flimsy ground that the one I possess did not qualify me for driving a heavy vehicle,” Yadav said.

The JAP leader who hogged the limelight when he moved on boats through the water-logged streets distributing food, drinking water, clothes and money a fortnight ago, collected trash from densely-populated localities and loaded it in the tractor-trolley with the help of his supporters.

Yadav also sprinkled bleaching powder at garbage dumps after collecting the waste to underscore that the authorities concerned were not doing enough to control the outbreak of vector-borne diseases.

He was, however, stopped a few kilometres ahead of the residence of Urban Development Minister Suresh Sharma by the police.

The men in uniform asked the former MP to furnish his driving licence and handed over a challan to him after he failed to produce a valid one, police said.

“I would have derived no pleasure out of throwing dirt at the doorstep of the minister. But I did want him to have a feel of the hellish condition in which the people of the city are living,” said Yadav, claiming it was a ploy to deter him from lending his voice to the people of Patna who have been suffering.

“This government has skewed priorities. It splurges billions of rupees on publicity while hospitals lack the kit used to transfuse platelets for want of funds,” he alleged.

“I will, however, keep raising my voice against the government’s insensitivity in whatever way it is possible. I shall also purchase a platelet transfusion kit from my own resources and donate it to the IGIMS (Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences) hospital here,” he said.

‘He is a Babu…’: Giriraj Singh Castigates Official in Bihar for Sitting in Car While Talking to Him

Source: news18.com

Begusarai(Bihar): Union minister Giriraj Singh on Sunday gave a dressing down to a government official in his Lok Sabha constituency here for apparently showing reluctance to alight from a vehicle while speaking with him.

Singh has been touring flood-affected areas of his Lok Sabha constituency since Saturday. This morning, while he was travelling on foot, accompanied by supporters, local residents and a Deputy Superintendent of Police Ashish Anand, the car of Nishant, Sub-Divisional Officer of Teghra, pulled up close by.

When Singh addressed the official, he replied from within the car, irking the minister’s supporters.

The firebrand BJP leader got sore and remarked, “Why would he alight from his vehicle. He is a babu (an honorific used in Bihar to describe bureaucrats). I greet him with folded hands.”

The official, subsequently, got out of his car and tried to placate Singh, who gave him a piece of his mind.

“While touring this area I have heard a lot of tareef (praise) for you from the people. Please ensure that more of this does not happen,”

Singh remarked with trademark acerbity.

“You must ensure that relief is provided to all the people of the sub-division without any discrimination. I remember that a relief camp had been set up here in 2016 when areas were similarly inundated. A camp should be set up again. Else I am going to stage a dharna in front of your premises,” he told the official, who nodded with folded hands.

Singh also said that he would apprise the chief minister and the chief secretary of the flood situation in his constituency. “And please do not remain under the illusion that I will be content with speaking to you. I am going to speak to the Chief Minister as well as the Chief Secretary about the flood in my constituency. So you better set your house in order,” he warned.

Singh gave up his sitting seat of Nawada in the general elections this year and retained Begusarai for his party by trouncing CPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar by over four lakh votes.

Flood-like situation in Gujarat claims 5 lives; Assam, Bihar return to normalcy

Source: indiatoday.in

ive persons were killed and over 5,000 were evacuated in Gujarat which was battered by nearly 500 mm of rain till Thursday morning, even as Assam and Bihar heaved a sigh of relief as the flood situation in the states improved considerably for the second consecutive day.

Water from the overflowing Vishwamitri river entered several localities in Gujarat’s Vadodara.

Four persons were killed in Bajwa area after a wall collapsed due to heavy rain. The body of an unknown man was recovered from Khodiyarnagar area Thursday, Vadodara district collector Shalini Agarwal told PTI.

According to figures provided by the state government, Vadodara received a staggering 499 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8 am on Thursday.

Of this, 286 mm of rain fell in just four hours, between 4 pm to 8 pm on Wednesday, the release said.

Close to 9 million people are said to be affected by floods in Bihar till Thursday though the number of casualties remained unchanged, at 130, for the second consecutive day, according to the state disaster management department.

Torrential rainfall in Nepal in the second week of July, besides heavy showers in districts of Bihar situated on the border, had caused half a dozen rivers, including Bagmati, Kamla, Khiroi and Burhi Gandak to swell, which continue to be above danger level at many places.

Assam’s flood situation also improved considerably with the water level of all the major rivers and its tributaries receding and life was slowly returning to normal in the flood affected districts.

A population of 3,64,553 in 459 villages of 12 districts are currently affected by the floods, according to the flood bulletin of Assam State Disaster Management Agency (ASDMA).

The marooned districts are Dhemaji, Darrang, Barpeta, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Chirang, Kamrup, Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat and Charaideo.

There was no report of any fresh casualty and the death toll in the current wave of floods in the north eastern state stays at 86.

It was a hot and humid day in the national capital with the mercury settling at 36.9 degrees Celsius, three notches above the normal.

The minimum temperature settled at 27.8 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal, a Meteorological (MeT) Department official said.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said the monsoon is expected to be normal in August and September, in its forecast for the second half of the four-month rainfall season.

Mritunjay Mohapatra, Director General of IMD, said the next two weeks are expected to bring good rainfall due to formation of a low pressure area in the north Bay of Bengal.

Light to heavy rains lashed several places in Himachal Pradesh, while a yellow weather warning for heavy rains has been issued in the state for this weekend.

Una received the highest 76 mm rainfall in the state, followed by Amb (30 mm), Sundernagar (24 mm), Mandi (20 mm), Bhuntar (15 mm), Manali (12 mm), Shimla (7 mm), Dalhousie and Kufri (1 mm each).

The highest temperature in the state was recorded at 29.6 degrees Celsius in Nahan, while the lowest temperature was 14 degrees Celsius in Keylong, the official said.

The Shimla MeT centre has forecast rains in the state till August 7, and issued a yellow warning for August 3 and 4.

Downpour in parts of Kashmir brought down the temperature in the Valley, even as rain caused waterlogging in many regions.

Light rainfall started in the city around 7:30 am. The downpour got heavier as the day progressed, leading to waterlogging of roads in many areas of the city, including the commercial hub of Lal Chowk, officials added.