Karnataka floods: Amit Shah undertakes aerial survey of affected areas; BSY, Joshi accompany him

New Delhi, Aug 11: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday undertook an aerial survey of the flood affected areas of Karnataka, where 31 people have lost their lives and more than four lakh have been displaced. Shah, also the BJP president, arrived by a special aircraft from Chennai at the Sambra Airport in Belagavi and set out on the survey of some of the affected areas onboard an army helicopter

He is accompanied by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, union ministers Pralhad Joshi and Suresh Angadi, Rajya Sabha member Prabhakar Kore and Hukkeri BJP MLA Umesh Katti. An official earlier in the day said the home minister will assess the flood situation in Belagavi district.

The Karnataka government on Saturday declared 80 taluks in 17 districts flood affected even as the death toll rose to 26 and thousands of people were rendered homeless, an official said.

The order was issued taking into account the damage to crop, loss of human lives, livestock and basic infrastructure.

The taluks are in Belagavi, Bagalkote, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Vijayapura, Gadag, Haveri, Dharwad, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada and Mysuru, the official said.