Things improve in Karnataka after flood & rain havoc

Team Udayavani, Aug 13, 2019, 2:03 PM IST

Bengaluru: After the flood and rain havoc in Karnataka in the past few days, things have improved in the affected districts of the state, where 6.77 lakh people had been evacuated in the past week.

Inflows in the reservoirs are steadily decreasing, an official update issued by the State government said on Tuesday.

“… flood situation is normalising. The water has started receding in many flood-affected districts and flood situation has improved,” it said.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday visited flood-affected areas in his home district of Shivamogga.

The state government said relief operations were in full swing, and senior officer camping in the districs were overseeing them and also visiting relief camps.

Several districts in the north, coastal and Malnad regions of the state had been badly hit by the flood and incessant rains, leaving a trail of destruction.

The rain fury has left 48 people dead in the State, while 16 are missing.

Flood waters of Tungabadra river that had entered the ground level of the UNESCO world heritage site in Hampi, the erstwhile capital of the Vijayanagara kingdom, receded on Monday and there was no damage to the monuments, officials said.

A total of 2,217 villages in 86 taluks of 17 districts have been affected due to floods and rains in the State, where 1,224 relief camps have been opened giving shelter for nearly four lakh people.

As many as 41,915 houses damaged, and agriculture and horticulture crop loss (preliminary assessment) stands at 4.30 lakh hectares.

The state government has requested the Centre to immediately release Rs 3,000 crore.

“If we total all districts, the loss will be around Rs 40,000 to 50,000 crore. We have requested the Centre to release Rs 3,000 crore immediately”, Yediyurappa said.