Major breach in Krishna canal; toll in AP, Karnataka rises to 269

Low-lying areas in Repalle town and 20 adjoining villages in Guntur district were submerged in water following the breach in right embankment of the canal, irrigation authorities said.

"We cannot say that the problem is over, water is receding and we need to be alert today also," Rajiv Sharma, Special Officer for Flood Relief works, said in Vijayawada.

"The toll in Andhra Pradesh stands at 63 and water is receding fast.Since the outflow at Prakasam barrage at Vijayawada is now 7.8 lakh cusecs against 10.7 lakh cusecs yesterday, there is definite improvement," Relief Commissioner Dinesh Kumar said.

A number of villages in Ibrahimpatnam, Jaggaiahpet, Chandarlapadu mandals of Krishna district and some localities in Vijayawada city continued to remain in water.

Over 2,500 people have been provided shelter in relief camps in Repalle, said Luv Agarwal, another senior official involved in flood relief.

In Karnataka, the floods triggered by heavy rains due to the receding monsoon have left a trail of destruction with the death toll mounting to 206, officials said in Bangalore. Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa sought President Pratibha Patil's intervention in impressing upon the Centre the need to release funds for the state to tide over the crisis and carry out reconstruction work.

Patil spoke to Yeddyurappa yesterday and expressed her concern over the flood situation, officials said. Yeddyurappa, in a letter to the President, said the state government has already requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to release Rs 10,000 crore for such works and has urged the Centre to declare the floods as a national calamity.

According to officials, the prime minister is expected to conduct an aerial survey of the affected regions on Friday. In Andhra Pradesh, as many as 16,45,706 people in 87 mandals were affected by the floods this morning. The search and rescue operation involved 713 Army personnel, 15 helicopters and 372 boats, they said.

The officials said 3,66,138 people were taking shelter in 294 relief camps and the number of people evacuated was 5,33,085.

The highway connecting Hyderabad and Kurnool has been restored and efforts were on to resume traffic on other roadways, the officials said. The sanitation drive in Kurnool and Mahboobnagar was being conducted by special officers and personnel deputed for the purpose, they added.