Sydney, Jan 31: Australian authorities have issued a major flood warning for the country’s northeast.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) on Friday issued a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall for communities along a 400-kilometre stretch of coast in far north Queensland state.

Residents in the area were told to prepare for up to half a metre of rainfall and for the possibility of flooding.

“Intensely heavy rainfall and significant, potentially life-threatening flash flooding are expected to develop,” Miriam Bradbury from the BoM said.

“These areas have already seen a huge amount of rain so far this week, and additional rainfall is likely to lead to further flash flooding.”

The area between Cairns and Townsville, the two biggest cities in far north Queensland, is expected to receive between 300 and 500 millimetres of rainfall between Friday night and Sunday.

Queensland’s State Disaster Coordinator Shane Chelepy said at a press conference that flood preparations were underway.

He urged residents in the affected area to put a disaster plan in place, ensure they are stocked up on food and fuel and that their electronic devices are charged.

“The most important thing they can do is stay connected with our messaging,” he said.

The area controller for the State Emergency Service, Chris Watts, said that emergency crews prepared flood boats and storm damage equipment.

He said that residents in flood zones should be prepared to evacuate.

According to the BoM, parts of Queensland’s north tropical coast received up to 800 millimeters of rain in the past week.

The heavy rainfall was being driven by three tropical low systems that formed off the coast of Queensland.

Mumbai: The Union government has informed the Bombay High Court that plastic flowers are not included in the list of banned single-use plastic items as they do not meet the criteria of “high littering potential and low utility”. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), in an affidavit, stated that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had forwarded the matter for consideration but without any supporting analysis.

The affidavit was filed in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) by the Growers Flowers Council of India (GFCI), which sought a ban on plastic flowers in Maharashtra. The PIL argued that plastic flowers, particularly those less than 100 microns thick, contribute to environmental pollution and should be included in the list of prohibited singleuse plastic items.

The High Court had earlier issued notices to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), CPCB, and MoEFCC, seeking their response on the demand for a ban. In October 2024, the court had asked the Centre whether it had considered CPCB’s recommendations for banning plastic flowers.

The MoEFCC, in its affidavit, clarified that an expert committee constituted by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals (DCPC) had identified 40 single-use plastic items for detailed analysis. However, plastic flowers were not among them.

Refuting the petitioner’s claims, the affidavit stated that the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, do not specify a minimum thickness requirement of 100 microns for plastic flowers.

The government argued, “The petitioner states that… violation of this thickness requirement has resulted in difficulties in decomposing. This is wrong and misleading. There is no such provision in Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016,” the MoEFCC affidavit emphasises.

The plea also highlighted that the Maharashtra government had issued a notification on March 8, 2022, banning several single-use plastic items.

Mumbai: The BMC is planning to reduce the rates for its ‘debris on call service by 50%. It is also exploring a mandatory integration in the AutoDCR portal that will require builders to directly deliver their debris to BMCs plants.

The city generates 7,000 to 8,000 metric tonnes debris every day. Due to the market rates for debris disposal being lower than the BMC’s fees, compliance from builders has been low. The price cut aims to tackle the problem.