Tamil Nadu rain: ‘Orange’ alert across districts, schools and colleges shut; 9-year-old dies in Thiruvarur A nine-year-old girl died while her brother suffered injuries after a house wall collapsed on them following heavy rains in Tamil Nadu’s Thiruvarur district. The state has been lashed by uninterrupted rainfall since Sunday. #WATCH | Moderate to Heavy rainfall recorded across various districts in Tamil Nadu last night. Visuals from Viluppuram.Due to incessant rainfall here, a holiday has been declared in schools and colleges here. pic.twitter.com/RKXgwRIa3Z Also Read:Tamil Nadu rains: 3 killed, services disrupted as heavy rainfall throws life out of gear | Top Developments The deceased girl has been identified as R Monisha, The incident occurred in a village near Nannilam on Sunday evening when the siblings were asleep in their house, which was in a dilapidated condition due to the continuous rain. Continuous rainfall affected Chennai and nearby districts, prompting an ‘orange’ alert from the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) for several areas in Tamil Nadu, including Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvarur, as well as Puducherry and Karaikal. Cumulative rainfall report (GCC areas). Kathivakkam in #Thiruvottiyur zone has recorded the highest rainfall (69.3 mm) in the last 24 hours followed by Uthandi (67.65 mm) in #Sholinganallur zone and Mugalivakkam (53.4 mm) in #Alandur zone. #ChennaiRains #Chennai pic.twitter.com/eFjwXeSYw8 According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), strong Easterly/Northeasterly winds prevail in the lower tropospheric levels, favoring moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal over Tamil Nadu, resulting in the current spell of rainfall across the region. Also Read:Tamil Nadu floods: 10 dead, transport services hit as heavy rains batter southern districts The RMC in Chennai has predicted rainfall across various districts in Tamil Nadu for the next seven days. Rainfall update (07/0830 IST – 08/0530 IST)@Indiametdept pic.twitter.com/MPs6AmDT8E “Heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet, Vellore, Tiruvallur, Chennai, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, and Tirunelveli districts and Puducherry,” the forecast stated on Sunday. According to weather data released on Monday morning, Sirkazhi in Mayiladuthurai district recorded the highest rainfall at 24 cm, followed by Chidambaram in Cuddalore district at 23 cm, and Velankanni in Nagapattinam district at 22 cm. Also Read:Schools shut as heavy rains batter Tamil Nadu, several lakes at full capacity Eight districts in Tamil Nadu declared a holiday on Monday for educational institutions due to continuous rainfall in the state. District Collectors announced school closures in Kallakurichi, Ranipet, Vellore, and Tiruvannamalai. Additionally, schools and colleges in Nagapattinam, Kilvelur, Viluppuram, and Cuddalore will remain closed on Monday, as authorities cited the adverse weather conditions. Annamalai University in Chidambaram postponed examinations in light of the heavy rain. According to the cumulative rainfall report by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), Kathivakkam in Thiruvottiyur zone recorded the highest rainfall (69.3 mm) in the past 24 hours. Following closely were Uthandi (67.65 mm) in Sholinganallur zone and Mugalivakkam (53.4 mm) in Alandur zone till 6 am on Monday. 🚨 Traffic Alert 🚨Due to water logging in certain areas, traffic is moving slow.Traffic is being monitored LIVE: Status at 1030 hrs: #Chennai #Traffic #Police@SandeepRRathore@R_Sudhakar_Ips@chennaipolice_ pic.twitter.com/jV13Koptfa The heavy rainfall led to waterlogging in various parts of the city, causing travel difficulties for daily commuters. Moreover, the ongoing Pongal gift hamper token distribution was affected, as shown in several videos depicting long queues of people enduring the heavy rain in Chennai.
Retail inflation in milk was reported at 8.85% in May 2023. The milk inflation has remained elevated at over 6% since August 2022. Despite India being the largest milk producer since 1998, the commodity has been the second biggest factor after cereals such as rice and wheat in driving up retail inflation in the last fiscal.
Milk has the second highest weight in the food and beverages basket of the consumer price index at 6.61%, a notch lower than cereals and products with a 9.67% weight. Organised players, including Mother Dairy and Amul, hiked prices multiple times in the last one year citing higher fodder cost, robust demand and some impact due to reports of lumpy skin disease.
Industry sources said feed cost, which has a share of more than 65% in the cost of production of milk, has increased to Rs 20/kg from Rs 8 a year ago. The finance ministry in April had attributed the elevated milk inflation to a demand supply mismatch and said it could be one of the factors apart from volatile international crude oil prices and constrained supplies of milk would influence the country’s inflation trajectory.
“Milk production has been impacted by a lumpy skin disease infecting millions of cattle in late 2022,” the ministry said in the monthly economic review, adding that the vaccination drive against the disease is expected to curb the spread and immune the cattle against the skin disease.
According to official data, currently India is the world’s largest milk producer, and has a share of 23% in global milk production. For the first time in decades, the country’s milk production is likely to have stagnated in 2022-23 due to Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle across several states and the lagged effect of Covid-19 in the form of stunting of the animals, a senior official with department of animal husbandry and dairying recently had stated. The milk production was estimated at 221 million tonne in 2021-22.