Floods displace over a million people in Karnataka, AP, and Maharashtra

Bangalore/ Hyderabad, Oct 5 (ANI): Heavy rains and floods over the past week have wreaked havoc in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and claimed over 230 lives and displaced over a million people.

On Monday, the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will undertake an aerial survey of the flood-ravaged states to assess the damage.

Despite a lull in rains over the last 24 hours, the situation in flood-hit north Karnataka remains grim. The death toll in Karnataka alone has crossed 180. Over 3,00,000 people have been displaced in the 14 districts of the state.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has asked the Centre to declare the unprecedented rainfall and flood situation as a national calamity and has demanded the Centre to release 10,000 crore rupees for relief activities.

He submitted the details of the devastation created by the rain and floods in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister.

On Sunday, the Central Government deployed over 250 specially trained National Disaster Relief Force personnel to the state.

In Andhra Pradesh, though the flood situation is improving in Kurnool and Mahaboobnagar districts, but hundreds of villages in Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda are still inundated.

The state Government has announced an exgratia of one lakh rupees to the families of victims and immediate assistance in cash and kind to the families who lost their homes.

Heavy rains have also lashed the districts in Konkan and southern Maharashtra.

In Goa, large parts of the state are lashed with heavy rains for the third day with people remaining indoors. According to sources over 250 houses have collapsed in the state in last one week.

In Kerala, flash flood has affected normal life at 6 places in Kozhikode district. Landslides were also reported at many places in the district.

In Orissa, floodwater is receding fast in Balasore and Bhadrak districts. But, Jalaka, Kansabansa, Sona and Budhabalanga rivers are still flowing above the danger level.

The Indian Air Force has deployed eight MI-8 and six Chetak helicopters for the rescue and relief operations in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The Army has deployed 600 personnel and about 1000 swimmers and 260 boats for rescue operations in flood hit areas.

Meanwhile, on late Sunday evening, the IAF copter airlifted a man clinging to a tree for more than 72 hours in Raichur District of Karnataka.

The young man identified as Ramesh climbed a tree to escape the flood fury and clung on for life for 72 hours until a rescue chopper finally showed up. (ANI)