13 lakh affected by floods in AP
Rain fury: Chidambaram to visit Karnataka to assess situation
Over 13 lakh people were affected in five districts of Andhra Pradesh following unprecedented floods in Krishna river basin which has claimed 37 lives so far, official sources said here on Sunday.
The flood claimed 15 lives in Kurnool, 16 in Mahaboobnagar, three in Krishna, two in Nalgonda and one in Guntur district, they said, adding that the toll may go up.
According to officials, thousands of cattle perished in the five districts with more loss reported in the worst-affected Kurnool district alone. As many as 478 villages in 87 ‘mandals’ have been severely hit in the last four days with the heaviest flood in river Krishna in last more than 100 years.
Over 13 IAF helicopters have been pressed into service to drop food packets and water sachets in the flood-hit areas and rescue people from inundated areas in the five districts, they said. Over 42,000 houses were damaged in Kurnool district followed by 11,680 in Mahabubnagar and 628 houses in Nalgonda district, they said.
Massive relief and rehabilitation measures were underway in the flood-affected regions with deployment of 1,058 swimmers and 550 army personnel to rescue those marooned in the submerged villages, they said. Services of 351 boats were also being taken to evacuate the people to safer places.
So far 4,73,765 people have been shifted to safer places and 2.57 lakh others to 293 relief camps, the sources said. Authorities have distributed 8,18,322 food packets and 5,45,992 water sachets in the flood-affected areas, they said.
4 Orissa districts affected
Nearly two lakh people in four north Orissa districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj have been affected by flash floods in the Budhabalanga and Baitarani rivers.
These rivers are in spate following heavy rain during the last four days under the impact of a low pressure in the Bay of Bengal.
Though the water level in the rivers has started receding, the woes of the flood-hit people are unlikely to be over soon as the weather department has predicted more rains in Orissa in the next 24 hours.
Official sources said many villages in the four districts are still marooned by the flood waters.
Teams of Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Forces (ODRAF) have already been placed into service for rescue and relief operations. Collectors of the affected districts have been directed to provide relief to the flood-hit people immediately.
According to reports, the fresh floods have so far claimed two lives in the above districts. However, the government is yet to confirm the deaths.
