CM rushes to flood hit areas as toll mounts to 23

Hyderabad, Nov 1 (UNI) With the death toll in rain-related accidents rising to 23, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara today cancelled his visit to New Delhi to meet UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and decided to rush to the cyclone-hit coastal districts.

In view of the alarming flood situation in the coastal region, Dr Reddy, who could not make an aerial survey due to torrential rain, decided to go by train to the worst-hit Prakasam District to monitor relief measures.

Ready-to-harvest agricultural crops in 2.88 lakh hectares and horticultural crop in 7.83 lakh hectares were inundated and over 1.19 lakh people were evacuated to 389 relief camps, he said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat before leaving.

With many parts of Prakasam district submerged and inundated in three to five feet of flood waters, Finance Minister K Rosaiah, who was deputed by the Chief Minister to oversee relief activities, used a tractor and bus to reach the flood victims.

Municipal Administration Minister K Ranga Rao and Higher Education Minister P Venkateswara consoled the affected people in Krishna district, where 65,000 people were displaced with the inundation of Challapalli, Movva and Ghantasala.

Reviewing the situation at a high level meeting at the Secretariat, Chief Secretary J Harinarayan ordered deployment of 12 additional medical teams with sufficient medicines in Krishna District, where 20 medical teams and eight rapid response teams were already present.

He instructed provision of 20 kg rice and five litres kerosene as immediate relief to the affected people and asked District Collectors to monitor the situation and submit reports on an hourly basis.

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