Andhra CM asks Centre to provide Rs 6,000 cr for relief works.
Over 50 villages in Andhra Pradesh were submerged today following unprecedented flooding of the Krishna river in a century but water levels in other badly-affected areas in the state and in Karnataka receded even as the administration battled against odds to reach relief to millions of victims.
The death toll in the two states devastated by the unseasonal rains in northern Karnataka and floods downstream crossed the 200 mark. The official toll in Karnataka was put at 194, while Andhra Pradesh registered 39 deaths. However, unofficial sources in Andhra Pradesh have put the death toll in excess of 50. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah has increased the ex-gratia amount to paid for the kin of the deceased from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.
Rosaiah also urged the Centre to consider the devastating floods as a “national calamity of rare severity” and provide Rs 6,000 crore for relief works immediately. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today, he said the damages caused by the devastating floods in the Krishna river basin had been preliminarily estimated at Rs 12,225 crore.
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, along with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, undertook an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas in the state, and promised all help for providing relief to the affected persons.
The flood situation in the state continued to be alarming even on Monday. While flood waters receded in Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts, the inhabitants of Krishna and Guntur districts are bearing the brunt. Several villages in the two districts and also parts of Nalgonda are currently inundated. Over 150,000 people have been evacuated to safer places in Krishna district alone.
According to government estimates, 1.3 million people have been affected so far. The number does not include people living in Nalgonda, Krishna and Guntur districts where flood waters entered in about 200 villages.
The flood situation is expected to be under control by tomorrow as there has been a considerable reduction in the inflows to various reservoirs. The water flow into the Srisailam reservoir declined to 538,000 cusecs and the outflow was down to 1 million cusecs. The inflow into the Nagarjunasagar dam also declined to 1.13 million cusecs, while the outflow stood at 1.01 million cusecs.
According to the chief minister, the loss incurred by the infrastructure sector including roads, communication, power and irrigation is to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore. Besides, Rs 1,050 crore worth of agricultural and horticultural crops have been destroyed.
He also said the floods had damaged more than 100,000 acres of standing crops in the state. The UPA chairperson also undertook an aerial survey of the ravaged areas in Karnataka’s Bellary district and Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who accompanied her, said the state suffered an unprecedented damage exceeding Rs 20,000 crore.
Torrential rains left a trail of death and destruction in 15 districts of Karnataka, damaging over 200,000 houses in 1,467 villages.
Bijapur district bore the brunt of the rain fury with 31 deaths, followed by Raichur and Bagalkot (26 each). Over 453,000 people have been sheltered in 13,330 relief camps.
A 500 metre-long bridge across the Tungabhadra river, 32 km from Raichur, was washed away in flood waters, officials said.
The Krishna river experienced the heaviest flood since 1903, when it had 1.03 million cusecs of flood waters.
The water level touched 21.4 feet at Prakasam Barrage and all the 72 crest gates have been lifted to let out water into Bay of Bengal. Irrigation authorities said the current flood discharge at Nagarjuna Sagar has been reduced to 1.03 million cusescs from 1.1 million cusecs yesterday.
In Krishna district, two children drowned in the swirling river at Patayedlalanka village near Avanigadda while nine adults swam to safety after the boat in which they were travelling capsized late this evening. The villagers were moving to a nearby relief camp from their village when the mishap occurred. National Disaster Response Force personnel have been on duty in this part of the district to evacuate trapped villagers to safety. District authorities said more than 1.5 lakh people have already been moved to relief camps. Some villages got marooned but there is no threat to any one as such. In such cases we are sending food and other relief material to the trapped people.
Flood damage estimated at Rs 12225 crore
(Prashanth)
BS Reporter Hyderabad, 5 October
According to Rosaiah, the loss incurred by the infrastructure sector including roads, communication, power and irrigation is to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore. Besides, Rs 1,050 crore worth of agricultural and horticultural crops have been destroyed and Rs 270 crore worth of cattle perished. While damages to houses is Rs 300 crore, the loss incurred by the fisheries segment is Rs 100 crore. An amount of Rs 500 crore is being spent on rescue and relief operations including food supplies and payment of ex gratia to the kin of the deceased. He said the floods had damaged more than 100,000 acres of standing crops. About 574 minor irrigation tanks had breached. The Sunkesula barrage breached at two places and the Banakacherla regulator was damaged. The Srisailam Right Bank Power house was completely inundated and 770 Mw generation capacity was lost for the next 3-4 months.
