K'taka CM to carry aerial survey of flood-hit districts

Bengaluru, Oct 18 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Sunday said he would carry out an aerial survey of the affected districts on October 21 to assess the damage caused by heavy rains and flash floods in the state's northern and northwest regions.

"As heavy rains and floods disrupted normal life and caused damage to crops, I will undertake an aerial survey of Kalaburagi, Raichur, Vijayapura and Yadgir districts on October 21 to assess the situation," said the Chief Minister in a statement in Kannada here.

The state government has deployed army troops in the four worst-hit districts for rescue and relief operations, as the situation remained grim due to release of excess water from Krishna and Bhima rivers, which turned into a spate due to heavy inflows from the dams in the neighbouring Maharashtra.

"Besides army jawans from Hyderabad, teams of the national and state disaster relief forces have been helping the authorities to evacuate hundreds of people stranded in villages submerged by the overflowing river water," a state natural disaster management authority official told IANS here.

Heavy rains due to extended southwest monsoon last week inundated over 100 villages across the 4 districts, forcing the authorities to shift about 20,000 people to relief camps in nearby towns.

The state government on Friday released Rs 86-crore emergency relief aid to a dozen districts in the state's northern and coastal regions.

The various districts that were affected by heavy rains and flash floods due to extended southwest monsoon are Bagalkot, Ballari, Belagavi, Bidar, Gadag, Kalaburagi, Kodagu, Koppal, Raichur, Yadgir, Vijayapura and Udupi across the state's north, northwest, coastal and southern regions.

The state government also sanctioned Rs 37 crore as subsidy to nearly 51,810 farmers who suffered crop loss due to flooding of their fields since August.

Yediyurappa also apprised the Central government of the grim situation in the state after heavy rains and flooding wreaked havoc in the affected districts, disrupting normal life and causing damage to the state infrastructure.

"The state government is providing compensation to the victims of heavy rains and flash floods in the state's northern and northwest regions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also promised financial aid to the state," Yediyurappa told the media at his home town Shikaripura in Shivamogga district earlier in the day.