Latest news with #VaranasiMunicipalCorporation
Indian Express
19 hours ago
- Indian Express
Plastic banned in Kashi Vishwanath Temple
After weeks of awareness drives for pilgrims and shopkeepers on the harmful effects of plastic, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple authorities have officially banned the entry of all plastic items inside the temple premises, declaring the area a completely plastic-free zone. Local vendors who were earlier selling flowers, holy water, sweets, and milk in plastic containers, have switched to bamboo baskets, cardboard boxes, trays, and small steel glasses. Cardboard is now used for sweets, while bamboo baskets hold flowers, diyas, and other pooja items. Varanasi sees 1–1.5 lakh visitors daily, rising to 2–2.5 lakh on weekends. During Sawan, the temple recorded about 10 lakh devotees. Clear instructions have been issued to temple and police staff to strictly enforce the ban. 'As of yesterday, no plastic is allowed inside the temple campus,' said Vishwa Bhushan, CEO of the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Mandir Trust, adding that bamboo baskets and steel glasses had been distributed to promote eco-friendly alternatives. Shopkeepers, however, said the transition was difficult due to old inventory. 'We have been using plastic baskets and pots for years, but in view of the government's initiative, we have now switched to bamboo, cardboard, and steel items,' said Raj Kumar Seth, a vendor for four decades. Sub-Divisional Magistrate Shambhu Saran said the authorities will next remove plastic chairs, coolers, and other such items from the premises to fully align with the plastic-free goal. Last year, the Varanasi Municipal Corporation had banned shops within two kilometres of the temple.
Time of India
a day ago
- Health
- Time of India
Life returning to normal in Kashi's flood-hit areas; classes resume
1 2 Varanasi: While lives of over 6,100 families, directly affected by floodwater entering their localities, have started returning to normal in the district, the normal functioning of schools began on Monday. The survey of crop losses of 8,352 farmers was intensified, while Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) accelerated the pace of silt removal and sanitation at ghats and streets that were inundated. Monitoring the flood relief exercises closely, district magistrate Satyendra Kumar said that as the Ganga is flowing two metre below the warning level, the flood situation in the district is gradually returning to normal. However, the flood relief camps are kept operational, he added. The Ganga adopted a receding trend after reaching the 72.23-metre mark against the danger level of 71.26 metre. Due to this, the floodwaters entered 28 city localities, including in the Ganga upstream and on the banks of the Varuna's downstream. Approximately 6,100 families were affected by the flood, while 8,352 farmers suffered crop damages in over 2,208 hectares of land. Officials said that a plot-to-plot survey of the damage is in progress to provide assistance under the agricultural investment grant. The water surely drained, but post-flood challenges have left the officials, especially those of the health department and VMC, sweating. Chief Medical Officer Dr Sandeep Chaudhary camped in areas like Konia on Monday to supervise preventive measures being conducted by his department and also the VMC, such as bleaching powder sprinkling after waste disposal, utilising domestic mosquito breeding checkers hired from DUDA and spraying anti-larvae chemicals. They inspected 1,710 homes, finding larvae in three and destroyed 3,215 mosquito breeding sources. Nodal officers are coordinating with the municipal corporation to monitor bleaching and anti-larvae spraying. Under the door-to-door drive for fever tracking and distribution of chlorine tablets, a total of 1,123 fever patients were tested so far, the CMO said, adding that ASHA workers distributed a total of 60,796 tablets so far. Currently, four flood posts are operational at primary schools in Salarpur, City Girls School in Bari Bazar, Saraiya and Rampur Dhaba, with eight medical teams deployed in two shifts. So far, 163 diarrhoea patients and 286 skin disease patients, totalling 2,420 patients, have been treated at the flood posts. A total of 1,741 ORS packets have been distributed at these posts. Regarding VMC's priorities, additional municipal commissioner Savita Yadav said that at Manikarnika Ghat, Satuwa Baba Ashram, Dashashwamedh Ghat, Sheetla Ghat, Assi Ghat, Konia and Dhelwaria, the teams are promptly clearing silt and spraying sodium hypochlorite, lime, bleaching powder and fogging. As people return home from municipal-run flood relief camps, sodium hypochlorite, lime, bleaching powder and fogging are being conducted in areas where water levels have decreased. At Sheetla Ghat, the municipal corporation is putting full effort into cleaning the accumulated mud. The officials highlighted that during the flood relief operation, 6,012 flood relief kits, 7,004 quintals of fodder, 114,322 lunch packets, 17,406 bananas, 10,272 milk packets, 3,492 ORS packets, 48,808 chlorine tablets, 166 water cans and 582 dignity kits were distributed. Special arrangements were made for senior citizens, pregnant women and disabled individuals residing in flood relief camps. Relief materials, milk, and drinking water are distributed to the homes of flood-affected families. Real-time monitoring of flood-affected areas was conducted with the help of Smart City and 3D mapping was used for continuous surveillance. A 24/7 flood control room is operational to address public grievances, with active participation from district administration, health, electricity, education, police, NDRF and other officials and staff. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Ahead of I-Day, Women SHGs helping VMC prepare 2.5L flags
Varanasi: Ahead of Independence Day celebrations, Varanasi Municipal Corporation has engaged women self-help groups (SHGs) to craft 2.5 lakh tricolours that will be distributed among citizens. Regarding the initiative, municipal commissioner Akshat Verma said project officer of district urban development authority, Nidhi Vajpayee, was assigned task of mobilising women self-help groups for crafting tricolours. The work is in progress, and as many as 2,50,000 tricolours are being prepared. He added that they would be distributed among citizens to display at their homes as part of the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign. Verma has set distribution targets for all zonal officers. The self-help groups had already crafted 50,000 flags by Saturday. Distribution targets have been set for zonal officers: 40,000 for Adampur, 45,000 for Bhelupur, 45,000 for Dashashwamedh, 25,000 for Kotwali, 45,000 for Varunapar, 20,000 for Sarnath, 15,000 for Rishi Mandavi and 15,000 for Ramnagar. Besides, Zonal officers will ensure the flags are distributed door-to-door through their staff. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- General
- Hindustan Times
UP: Amid floods, man takes boat to meet sister on Raksha Bandhan
Varanasi , Manju Devi didn't want her brother, Saurabh Gupta, to visit on Raksha Bandhan this year, not when Varanasi was flooded. However, determined to celebrate the festival, he took a boat and navigated through the waters to reach his sister. UP: Amid floods, man takes boat to meet sister on Raksha Bandhan "My sister told me not to come because of the floods, but since Raksha Bandhan is a once-a-year occasion, I made the trip. I took a boat to get to her place," Gupta said. Although the water level of the Ganga River has been decreasing in Varanasi district, the difficulties for those in flooded areas and nearby rural regions continue. The flood has inundated about 80 per cent of the crops in the surrounding villages. Sampurnanand, a resident of Ramana in Varanasi district, mentioned that farmers in his village primarily depend on vegetable crops. Claiming that crops such as bitter gourd, beans, sponge gourd, brinjal, and papaya have been submerged, leaving farmers feeling disappointed due to their financial losses, he called for compensation and immediate cleanup of the affected areas. Chandrakant Singh, a resident of Hukulganj, shared similar concerns, noting that his family had to move to the second floor of their home as water levels began to rise. He mentioned that women are using boats to reach their brothers to tie rakhis. According to the Central Water Commission, the water level of the Ganga river came down to 69.8 metres on Saturday morning, whereas the danger mark is set at 71.262 metres. Sandeep Srivastava, the Public Relations Officer of Varanasi Municipal Corporation, stated that the Municipal Corporation is working urgently in the flood-affected areas. As floodwaters recede, employees are focused on cleaning, followed by the spraying of bleaching powder. Subsequently, sodium hypochlorite is sprayed using a machine to protect residents from flies, mosquitoes, and the diseases they may carry. A total of 24 flood relief camps have been established, accommodating 4,500 displaced individuals. Teams from the District Administration, Police, NDRF, and Water Police are working together. The flood relief team is continually in contact with affected residents to assist, District Magistrate Satendra Kumar said. Uttar Pradesh's Minister of State for Registration, Stamp and Court Fee, Ravindra Jaiswal, visited flood victims living in relief camps at the Ram Janaki Temple, Dhelvariya, Savitri Lawn, Saraiya, Shailputri Temple and Mauja Hall, Chitrakoot School. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Floodwaters in houses, power cuts trouble Varanasi as Ganga recedes
1 2 3 4 Varanasi: Though water level in Ganga receded below danger level by Thursday evening, thousands of residents were left struggling, especially due to continuous power cuts, flooded home space and back-flowing sewers. The Ganga's water level was 71.35 meters at 4 pm on Thursday , while the receding trend continued at a pace of 2 cm per hour. As the water receded more than half a meter in past 24 hours, many roads like Samneghat and Assi, which had become inundated upstream, were cleared and movement of four-wheelers on the Samneghat-Ramnagar bridge on Ganga was restored. There was no change in the situation in residential colonies in Nagwa area, as well as in localities on the banks of Varuna in Ganga downstream. Ground floor in most of the houses remained marooned while reverse flow of sewage from manholes was evident even on roads like Maqbool Alam Road, Dhelwariya and also in Ganga upstream. In flood-affected areas, district magistrate Stayendra Kumar said though Ganga was receding, normal life was still not restored in 28 wards of the city, hence relief and rescue operations continued. As many as 24 boats are still operating to ensure relief articles reached 4,500 stranded people. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Most Talked-About Bollywood Events of 2025 Learn More Undo Teams of administration, police, NDRF, RAF, and river police are also operating in these wards and 90 affected villages. Before receding, Ganga affected lives of around 8,352 farmers in 90 villages and 8,000 people were displaced in urban areas. The officials expected that people would start returning to home from Friday. The DM said the Varanasi Municipal Corporation, jal-kal and health department were asked to begin drives in the areas from which floodwater was clearing. One medical team is being deployed in each ward to hold camps and provide consultancy and necessary medicines to people. Varanasi Municipal Corporation's teams were active in flood-hit areas by launching cleaning operations and initiating preventive action against infectious diseases. Additional director Dr Aslam Ansari inspected these drives, while Mayor Ashok Tiwari took stock of VMC's exercises in those areas since early morning. They asked officials monitoring the drive in flood-affected areas to ensure silt removal, application of lime, bleaching powder, and fogging as the water recedes. Cleaning, spraying lime, anti-larvae and bleaching powder was being carried out in Pulkoha and Daniyalpur ward areas. Extensive cleaning of roads and ghats was evident in Konia, Shailputri, Jalalipura, Nagwa, Dashashwamedh Ghat, Sheetla Ghat, Assi, Samneghat and other locations. Municipal commissioner Akshat Verma, who was closely monitoring the drive in every flood-affected location, asked for initiating cleaning operations as soon as flood water cleared in more localities. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and s ilver prices in your area.
