Torrential rain has killed more than 30 people in India's southern states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, with thousands more evacuated to shelters, as the nation braces for above-average rainfall in September after a surplus last month.
Roads and bridges were swept away by flooding while emergency workers scrambled to rescue stranded people. Flooding or rain-related incidents killed at least 15 people in Telangana and 16 in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, authorities said.
A mother and her daughter died in their sleep after a wall collapsed at their home during a downpour in Telangana, while a scientist and her father were swept away in their car as they crossed a bridge.
Rainfall in September is likely to be more than double the average of the last 50 years, according to the India Meteorological Department. India had 15 per cent more rainfall than average in August across the northwestern and central regions, which led to flooding in some states.
The national weather agency issued a warning of extremely heavy rain for both states on Monday. The disruptive weather is being caused by a tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal, the India Meteorological Department said. It forecast thunderstorms and lightning in parts of Andhra Pradesh over the next four days, which prompted authorities to close schools.
Rivers have swelled and breached safe levels in both states, forcing national and state disaster response units to evacuate thousands of people to shelters. Indian Air Force choppers were deployed to airlift people.
Footage from local television showed emergency workers using ropes and poles to rescue people from flood-hit areas. One video on social media showed police saving a man from an overflowing river.
Parts of Hyderabad, the shared capital of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, were left underwater after the city received 37cm of rain on Sunday. Andhra Pradesh received more than 28.5cm of rain, according to the government. The district of Vijayawada was the worst affected, with the Budameru river bursting its banks.
"Due to Budameru breaches, floodwaters are coming into Vijayawada. As a result, all of this place has been submerged. It is very sad," said Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu.
Telangana's Chief Minister Anumula Revanth Reddy urged government departments to remain vigilant. More than 150 trains were cancelled while about 100 were diverted in the twin states. Hundreds of passengers were stranded at railway stations after land was washed away by floodwater, leaving tracks unusable.
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Hamilton’s 2017
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