Floods in the Leh region - causing "unprecedented" devastation in Jammu and Kashmir

In a horrific rage by nature, a cloudburst caused flash floods to occur in the Leh region of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir

At least 60 people were killed and hundreds injured after rare rainfall triggered flash floods Friday in an area of Indian Kashmir popular with foreign fans of high-altitude adventure sports.

The overnight floods, prompted by an intense cloudburst, tore through Leh, the main town in the Buddhist-dominated Ladakh region, causing "unprecedented" devastation.

Television footage showed scenes reminiscent of an earthquake, with collapsed buildings, downed power lines and residents scrabbling knee-deep through mud to try to dig survivors out of the rubble.

The floods hit Leh and surrounding villages without warning during the night when most residents were asleep.

He said the death toll was likely to rise "significantly" with dozens still missing in Leh and rescue workers unable to reach some of the affected districts nearby. The military had been called in to help with the relief efforts.The Indian army has a large presence in Ladakh, which shares a sensitive border with neighbouring China.

The force of the flash flood was so strong that it destroyed part of a camp belonging to the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force.

"More than a dozen of CRPF vehicles got washed away, the DGP of Jammu Kashmir, Mr. Kuldeep Khoda, said that among the dead, there were three Jawans whose dead bodies have been found.

Telephone and other communication systems have been totally hampered by the floods.

The mountainous region, sitting in the southeastern part of Muslim-majority Kashmir, is popular with foreign adventure tourists interested in Himalayan trekking and river-running.

August is the peak tourist season in Ladakh, which experiences extreme weather conditions and is largely inaccessible during the harsh winter.

Some 3,500 metres (11,500 feet) above sea level, Leh is surrounded by high-altitude desert where heavy rainfall is uncommon.

The town was effectively cut off Friday, with the flood waters washing away sections of the main highways to the popular backpacker destination of Manali and the Kashmiri summer capital, Srinagar.

"So far, no reports of any tourists among the dead, but some are stranded on the Leh-Manali road. The army has sent rescue teams there," A police spokesman said Leh airport had also been damaged, stopping all incoming and outgoing flights.

Daily temperature fluctuations in Leh are dramatic. In the summer months, the thermometer can plunge to minus 3 degrees Celsius during the night and then rise as high as 30 degrees during the day.

Ravi Ramaswamy, the director of a travel agency in Leh said that,"I would say we are seeing something quite unusual this year. We have had intense snow melt because of soaring daytime temperatures and the rivers have been running at alarming levels,"

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Total solar eclipse, on 11th/12th, July 2010.

A Total Solar Eclipse will take place on July 11, 2010. The Solar Eclipse is not visible in India,UnitedStates,Europe, UnitedKingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Gulf, Dubai and in most parts of the world. The eclipse will be visible only in the southern most parts of South America, Cook Islands, French Polynesia , the south eastern pacific ocean etc.The various phase of eclipse begins at 10.39pm on 11^th July and ends at 3.27am.on 12^th July 2010.

“For those who want an excellent cosmic photography opportunity, the solar eclipse on Sunday is the perfect sight. However, the best destination to view the solar eclipse is the Easter Island.

Total eclipse is being anxiously awaited and many people have come to the Easter Island to get the best shot of it. This will surely be a once in a life time experience for those at Easter Island, as they will be able to view a remarkable natural event.

The solar eclipse predicted to be viewed most clearly at the very isolated and remote Easter Island is a disappointment for many in different parts of the world.

The last solar eclipse visible from India occurred on15th, January,2010.

Whereas the next solar eclipse would occur on 4^th January, 2010 which is visible from few northern states in the country.

Astronomically speaking the year 2010 ends with a total lunar eclipse which will occur on 21^st December, 2010. Which again I s not visible in India.

Cyclone Laila

Cyclone Laila is likely to intensify further move slowly in a north-westerly to northerly direction and cross the AP coast between Kavali and Kakinada close to Machilipatnam by Thursday evening.

The cyclonic system is likely to move north -east wards across Orissa and West Bengal.

The cyclone is slated to generated wind up to a speed of 120km/hr and a heavy rain fall of up to 25cm or more in the coastal region over the rest 36 hours.

The centre is rushing over 400 personnel of National Disaster Responds Force along the coastal areas to meet any exigencies arising out of cyclone 'Laila'

The cyclone Laila has created its fury in Chennai also . Coastal district of Tamil Nadu are badly hit by the cyclone many fishermen have been reported missing and hundreds of boats damaged. Sea condition will continue to rough and fishermen have been advised not to venture in to the sea.

CYCLONE LAILA TO BRING HEAVY RAIN IN COASTAL REGION OF TN AND AP

Cyclone Laila intensified in the Bay of Bengal about 700 km south east of Chennai. Coastal areas of North Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are expected to witness heavy rain and very strong winds.

It is more moving than 20km/hr. There will be scattered rain fall over Chennai, Guddalur, Kanchipuram, Thiruvalluvar districts. Meteorological department has issued a cyclone warning to ports and fishermen not to venture in to the sea.Heavy rains are likely to lash coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and north Tamil Nadu during the next two days

Cyclones gain their winds from heat rising from ocean waters. The warm water of Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are conducive for cyclones.

“Latest satellite images and radar observation indicate that cyclonic storm ‘Laila’ lies centred at about 400 km east of Chennai. This system is likely to intensify further and move in a west northwesterly direction and cross the Andhra coast between Ongole and Vishakapatnam in the early hours of Thursday,” Met officials said.

World’s Earth day- message,& pictures

On the eve of 40^th celebration of world’s Earth day let us pledge to save our Earth from environmental disasters.

We have only one earth to live. The time is crucial now to save the biodiversity on the earth. The year2010 is celebrated as International bio diversity year. So our efforts should be forward minimizing the various kinds of pollution, steps to reduce global warning avoid deforestation & so on.

Now, it’s is the time to go for the judicious use of natural resources & its protection.

On the day we shall pledge that, let us

· Grow more & more tress

· Protect & use natural resources judiciously.

· Develop simple life style.

· Use public transport.

· Implement rain harvesting methods.

· Minimizing the use of non-bio degradable materials like plastic.

· Use solar energy as an alternative for petroleum products.

By adopting these in our life we shall try to live peacefully with our environment.

Earth hour- Pictures, Photos, a message to save electricity.

Earth hour is a global event organised by World Wild Life Fund (WWF) & is celebrated on the last Saturday of March every year.

On this day, people are asked to turn off their non-essential lights & other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change.

Earth hour was conceived by WWF & the Sydney morning herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights. Following Sydney’s lead, many other countries around the world adopted the event in 2008.

Earth hour 2010, will take place on March 27, 2010 from 8.30pm to 9.30pm in India.

Observing this as a great movement, all of us need to stand together to save the planet earth. There is a desperate need for conservation of water & electricity. This initiative will go a long way to save the power problems. Let us observe this day to respect and nurture the mother earth.

Environmental awareness & its protection , the need of the hours!

The earth is now undergoing with deadly climatic changes. We the human race have sustainly altered the earth’s atmosphere .The worldwide priority for accelerated growth & development of nations has resulted in pushing up the level of green house gas emission in atmosphere to a dangerous threshold . In 2005 the concentration carbon dioxide exceeded the natural range that has existed over 650000 years . In the 20^th century the increase in average temperature was .74c sea level increased by 17cm & a large part of the Northern hemisphere snow cover vanished.

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GLOBAL WARMING.

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of earth’s near surface, air & oceans due to build up of carbon dioxide & other green house gases in the atmosphere. The global temperature near earth’s surface has risen by .74±.18 degree celsius during the last 100 years. The intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) in its climate models has projected that global surface temperatures are likely to increase by 1.1degree celsius to 6.4degree celsius between 1990-2100. Although most studies focus on period upto 2100, warming & sea level rises are executed to continue for more than a expected to continue for more than a millennium even if green house gas level are stabilizes . This reflects the large heat capacity of oceans.