Rescue, relief works on in full swing in flood affected Karnataka

Rescue and relief works are on in full swing in flood ravaged districts of Karnataka, with a let up in the rains and water receding in most of the affected areas, officials said here on Monday.

With the situation improving, search is on for those who have gone missing and efforts are being made to reach out to those who need to be evacuated.

However, due to heavy inflow into various reservoirs and release of water from there, caution is being maintained in areas surrounding dams, officials said, adding that work is also on to clear roads that were flooded or blocked due to landslides.

Eighty taluks of 17 districts in Karnataka have been affected due to floods and rains. The state government had on Sunday evening put the death toll at 40, and those missing at 14.

A total of 5,81,702 people have been evacuated till last evening and 1168 relief camps have been opened where 3,27,354 people are taking shelter. Over 50,000 animals have also been rescued.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa will be touring affected areas of Dakshina Kannada and Mysuru districts on Monday to oversee the rescue and relief works and will also be holding meetings with officials there.

Yediyurappa had said on Sunday that initial estimates of losses in the floods was about Rs 10,000 crore and that the state government had requested the Centre to immediately release Rs 3,000 crore.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had conducted areal surveys of flood affected areas of North Karnataka on Sunday and Saturday respectively.

Fire and Emergency services, State Disaster Response Force(SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Army are carrying out the rescue and relief operation Four choppers of the Indian Air Force and one from the navy have also been pressed into service.