North Karnataka floods: BSY to conduct aerial survey

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa will conduct an aerial survey of flood-hit districts in Krishna river basin on Monday.

Villages along the banks of the river in five districts - Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Yadgir and Raichur - are hit due to heavy rainfall in Maharashtra and parts of north Karnataka.

Yediyurappa, who was earlier scheduled to fly to Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Union ministers on Monday, decided to conduct an aerial survey of the affected districts. However, an aerial survey of Belagavi district has been called off due to adverse weather conditions, according to the Chief Minister's Office.

Noting that there was no dearth of funds with the state government, the chief minister said that additional funds would be released for relief work, if required.

River Krishna had reached dangerous levels after water was released from Koyna reservoir and other dams upstream owing to heavy rainfall. Officers were instructed to keep in touch with authorities in Maharashtra regarding the release of water from dams and alert the villagers living along the banks of Krishna beforehand.

According to a release from the Chief Minister's Office, many villages had lost road connectivity after bridges and roads were flooded by the river, cutting off many residents from the mainland.

"As an immediate relief measure, DCs must provide food, clothing, blankets and other amenities to the victims and fodder must be provided for cattle," the CM instructed.

National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Army and other forces will be employed for rescue and relief efforts. The chief minister was also briefed about the extent of crop loss suffered due to the floods and about the relief camps being run by the district administration.