Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

[Commonground]

Over 4.5 lakh people evacuated in flood-hit Andhra Pradesh

Saturday, October 3, 2009 2:26 IST

Hyderabad: Sixteen people were killed and over 4.5 lakh people evacuated after massive floods inundated parts of Andhra Pradesh as the state government stepped up relief and rescue efforts with the help of 550 army personnel.

Though the number of deaths due to the floods is 16, the toll is likely to increase further, Revenue Minister D Prasada Rao said here today. Rescue personnel evacuated 1.5 lakh people in Kurnool district, 1.34 lakh people in Mahaboobnagar district, 15,000 people in Krishna district and 5,000 flood victims in Guntur district.

About 105 relief camps have been started in the districts of Kurnool, Mahaboobnagar, Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda to help those affected by the floods, Rao said.

Though the water level in the three worst-hit districts of Kurnool, Mahaboobnagar and Krishna has receded slightly, there is a need to stay on alert, he said.

Chief Minister K Rosaiah said earlier in the day that the flood situation in Kurnool and Mahaboobnagar districts of Andhra Pradesh has improved with water levels receding.

Massive rescue and relief operation are being organised in the affected areas with seven helicopters, 550 army personnel and 165 personnel of National Disaster Response Force, 48 boats of (NDRF) and 90 boats of various agencies have been pressed into service.

The inflow of water in the Srisailam dam was 28 lakh cusecs and outflow was 14.04 lakh cusecs. The inflow water in to the Srisailam dam is likely to come down by the evening, which may provide relief to Kurnool district.

In Nagarjunasagar dam, the outflow of water was 8.06 lakh cusecs. The revenue minister said lakhs of food and water sachets and other relief material are being distributed to the flood victims in all the districts.

KVP Ramachandra Rao, advisor to the state government, said several ministers are involved in relief and rescue efforts in various districts.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/repor...evacuated-in-flood-hit-andhra-pradesh_1294700

 

[Commonground]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

People wade through floodwaters to reach safer areas in the town of Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. Photo Courtesy: AP.

Villagers reluctant to move from flood-hit areas

Sat-Oct 03, 2009
Vijayawada / Press Trust of India
Despite the heaviest flood in river Krishna in more than 100 years -- with 10 lakh cusecs gushing in at a menacing pace -- people in many villages are still reluctant to move to safer places.


A flood of this magnitude was never seen in the state's history and the discharge in the river Krishna is expected to cross 15 lakh cusecs by Sunday.

It has become a Herculean task for the authorities in Krishna, Nalgonda and Guntur districts to convince the affected people to move to safer places.

"The whole of last night, we spent time and effort in convincing people to be evacuated as the flood is of an unprecedented magnitude.

"We have so far moved 13,710 people from 16 villages in five mandals on the river bank to relief camps," Nalgonda district Collector S A M Rizvi told PTI.

He said many more people will have to be evacuated once the flood level crosses the 10 lakh cusecs mark.

Some of the people who were shifted to relief camps late on Friday night returned to their houses on Saturday morning, forcing the Nalgonda district administration to issue a stern warning and shift them back to the camps.

In Guntur district 4,000 people have already been moved to relief camps in 12 mandals while many more will be evacuated.

In Vijaywada city 45,000 people have been moved to relief camps, while in other parts of Krishna district, officials are in the process of shifting another 25,000 people to safety.

"We are making arrangements to shift 1.20 lakh people to relief camps as flood levels continues to surge beyond 10 lakh cusecs," a senior district official said.

This will be by far the largest rescue and relief operation being carried out by the authorities of the three districts along the banks of river Krishna.

The river is rapidly swelling each passing hour as more than 13.5 lakh cusecs of water has already been discharged from the Srisailam reservoir.

Meanwhile, five defence helicopters and 60 boats have been kept ready for emergency operation.

A battalion of National Disaster Response Force comprising 60 men has been positioned in Vijaywada, while another battalion of 160 army personnel has also been moved in to help the administration in the rescue and relief operations.

http://newsx.com/story/63820

 

[Commonground]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Saturday, October 3, 2009

16 killed, over 4.5 lakh people evacuated in flood-hit Andhra

S

Hyderabad, Oct 3 (PTI) Sixteen people were killed and over 4.5 lakh people evacuated after massive floods inundated parts of south India's Andhra Pradesh as the state government stepped up relief and rescue efforts with the help of 550 army personnel

Though the number of deaths due to the floods is 16, the toll is likely to increase further, Revenue Minister D Prasada Rao said here Saturday

Rescue personnel evacuated 1.5 lakh people in Kurnool district, 1.34 lakh people in Mahaboobnagar district, 15,000 people in Krishna district and 5,000 flood victims in Guntur district.



About 105 relief camps have been started in the districts of Kurnool, Mahaboobnagar, Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda to help those affected by the floods, Rao said.

http://newsonindia1.blogspot.com/2009/10/16-killed-over-45-lakh-people-evacuated.html

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

177 dead as rains, floods batter Andhra and Karnataka

STAFF WRITER 20:54 HRS IST


Bangalore/Hyderabad, Oct 3 (PTI) Authorities in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh today battled the fury of continued torrential rains and surging flood water that claimed 177 lives and indundated vast swathes of land rendering lakhs of people homeless.

At the same time, resuce efforts were intensified with troops backed by IAF helicopters shifting marooned people in both the states to safer areas.

While 161 people perished in the heavy rains that battered 15 districts of Karnataka, 16 people were killed in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh whose five districts were hit by the flash flood.

However, the death count in both the states is likely to go up as many flood-hit areas were still to be accessed in Andhra Pradesh and between 11 and 21 persons were feared buried under mounds following landslide in a hillock at Kadawada village in Uttara Kannada where two bodies have been recovered, officials said.
http://ptinews.com/news/312635_177-dead-as-rains--floods-batter-Andhra-and-Karnataka

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Rains claim 19 lives in Maharashtra in 3 days

STAFF WRITER 19:16 HRS IST
Mumbai, Oct 3 (PTI) Heavy rains in parts of Maharashtra during last three days have claimed 19 lives, Chief Secretary Johny Joseph said here today.

"Thirteen people were killed in Ratnagiri, five in Solapur district and one in Sindhudurg district," Joseph told reporters here.

The Ratnagiri death toll includes eight persons killed in landslide two days ago.

Six villages in Sangli district of western Maharashtra have been cut off due to heavy rains over the past couple of days, he said. Eight boats have been deployed for relief operations there, Joseph said.

Thirty of the 51 medium irrigation projects in Solapur district were overflowing, he said.
http://ptinews.com/news/312504_Rains-claim-19-lives-in-Maharashtra-in-3-days

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Karnataka floods Andhra Pradesh
TNN 3 October 2009, 10:30pm IST

HYDERABAD: It rains in Karnataka and it floods in Andhra Pradesh. Especially when the bosses in Bengaluru have no sensitivity about happenings in
the neighbouring state. This in a nutshell describes the flood situation in Andhra Pradesh with continuous massive inflows of river water from neighbouring Karnataka continued to play havoc.

Late on Saturday night the scene was shifting away from the marooned Kurnool district to downstream Krishna and Guntur districts all set to face the brunt of the deluge. This was even as the official death toll in Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts rose to 33 lives. But this is grossly underestimated with no official machinery in place to compute the numbers dead. Since morning there have been an exodus of people from Kurnool town.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah informed the media on Saturday evening that he had requested his Karnataka counterpart B S Yeddyurappa twice during the day and that the latter had given him an assurance that the surging waters of Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers "would be arrested" at the reservoirs within that state. But this was a promise observed only in breach.

Srisailam reservoir received 14.52 lakh cusec of waters from the neighbouring state on Saturday while water from Almatti contributed to another four lakh cusecs. With the water level at Srisailam hovering a full 10.5 feet over the full storage level of 885 feet, the irrigation officials had no choice but to allow the entire inflow to go downstream.

As a result, Nagarjunsagar dam downstream of Srisailam received 14.52 lakh cusecs of water and in turn released 9 lakh cusecs of water further downstream to Prakasam Barrage. By Saturday-Sunday midnight, the barrage is expected to receive as much as 10 lakh cusecs of water, a factor that is keeping the residents of Vijayawada town and Krishna and Guntur districts on tenterhooks as they apprehend massive flooding due to the excess flow of water. The last time Prakasam Barrage received 10 lakh cusecs of water was 45 years ago in 1964.

While chief minister K Rosaiah told the media that there was no danger to the Srisailam dam structure, power officials told TOI that the 770 MW hydro power house at Srisailam is under water and that it will be January before it can be restarted.
The state government said on Saturday that Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts are slowly limping back to normalcy. In all, 3.83 lakh people were evacuated from the affected districts on Saturday by deploying 254 boats, almost 1,000 swimmers, 550 army personnel and 6 helicopters. 227 relief camps have been set up to accommodate 2.75 lakh displaced people.

A total of nearly 4 lakh food packets and another 4 lakh water packets were distributed to the affected people. Apart from sending a team of 250 doctors, voluntary agencies have been pressed into service for the relief and rescue work, the chief minister said.

The state government also announced an ex-gratia of Rs one lakh each to the next of kin of the dead, Rs 4000 for each fully damaged house and Rs 3,000 for each partially damaged house. In addition, the affected families have also been promised free supply of 20 kg of rice and five litres of kerosene. District collectors in the flood affected areas have been given discretionary powers to extend the Dasara holidays for schools if need be.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...floods-Andhra-Pradesh/articleshow/5084905.cms

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

From Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh:


Not many takers for relief camps

Staff Reporter

Of the 29,000 people evacuated, only 4,350 report at the shelters

Lorries, mini-lorries, trucks, auto-rickshaws pressed into service

Officials of Corporation, Revenue and Police deputed to shelters


VIJAYAWADA: The efforts of the officials seem to be paying no dividends as the people were reluctant to move to rehabilitation shelters on Saturday. The officials positioned from Bhavanipuram to Ramalingeswara Nagar had a tough time in convincing them to move to safe places.

Though the officials could evacuate more than 65 per cent of the people, only nine per cent reported at the rehabilitation shelters. Rest of them were believed to have ?gone to their relatives of friends houses.? The officials were supposed to evacuate 45,825 people by Friday night from Bhavanipuram to Ramalingeswara Nagar, including Krishnalanka, Ranigarithota, Ranadive Nagar, Bhupesh Gupta Nagar, Punnami hotel and so on. But, they could evacuate only 29,000 people. Of these, only 4,350 people reported at the rehabilitation centres. For instance, the officials reportedly evacuated all the 3,000 people from Bhupesh Gupta Nagar to Geeta Nagar Katta to 10 MGD plant. However, none of them reported at the shelters. The situation was no better at other vulnerable areas like Ranigarithota (Tarakarama Nagar) from Vaaradhi to the beginning of Bhupesh Gupta Nagar, Balaji Nagar, Bhavanipuram, Bhavanighat and so on. None of the evacuated people reported at the rehabilitation centres.

Security


Panchayati Raj Minister Botcha Satyanarayana visited some low lying areas and suggested to the people to move to safe places. He assured them that police bandobust would be provided to their localities. He directed the police to keep a vigil and provide bandobust in colonies and slums vacated by the people.

The officials pressed lorries, mini lorries, trucks, auto-rickshaws and other vehicles to shift the people to rehabilitation shelters. However, the people preferred staying in their homes fearing that their houses would be looted in their absence. The officials said that the transportation vehicles would be pressed into service till Sunday morning, and a decision would be taken whether to continue to use their services.

The officials suspected that most of the people, who were evacuated, would come back to their houses after having lunch or dinner to save their properties. But, they would continue to remain in the shelters only if their houses were marooned in flood waters and reaching there becomes humanly impossible.

The VMC opened 28 rehabilitation shelters to shift about 40,000 people from various localities abutting the river. Officials of the corporation, revenue and police were deputed to each shelter. Food, water and medical facilities were provided at the shelters. Corporation kept open its control room with phone No. 0866-2426103.

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Floods leave thousands homeless, many stranded in marooned villages


Karnataka Bureau


Rescue efforts in some places have been hampered by rain, rising water and landslides
Over one lakh (100,000) houses have been damaged or destroyed across the State

People in relief camps complain of pathetic conditions

BANGALORE: Thousands rendered homeless, many stranded amid rising water in their fields, some forced to take refuge on rooftops and trees, others unable to leave their villages marooned by flash-floods. This is the picture in several parts of north Karnataka ? and now in Karwar in coastal Karnataka ? after six days of unrelenting rain that has set the death toll rising.

Well over one lakh houses have been damaged or destroyed across the State and 2,847 head of cattle lost and acres of agricultural fields destroyed.
Cut off


In Bijapur, one of the worst affected districts where 29 people have died, no fewer than 30 villages on the banks of Don river are marooned, including Tonshyal where water has entered hundreds of houses. Since the approach road to the village is cut off by floodwaters, rescue operations have not yet begun.
Rescue efforts have been hampered by the rain, rising water and landslides. In Bagalkot, five persons were washed away in floodwaters in Hiremyageri village when the rescue boat capsized on Saturday afternoon.

Flash-floods


In Chitradurga, Ashamma (18) and Palakshamma (21) were the latest victims of the deluge, taking the toll to four in the district. According to reports, the duo were washed away in floods while crossing the Somannakere rivulet in a bullock cart. More than 4,356 hectares of crops have been destroyed while close to 50 head of cattle have perished. Onion crops on 2,422 hectares are rotting because of excess moisture and waterlogged fields.

A dozen villages along the Tungabhadra and Hagari rivers were marooned in Siraguppa taluk in Bellary district. ?The water-level in the villages was above chest level and it was even higher over the bridges. We managed to leave the village, wading through the floodwaters holding each other?s hand. I have not witnessed such a situation in the recent past,? said Nagamma, an elderly woman.

Floods in Gulbarga have destroyed 15,450 houses and killed 328 head of cattle and sheep. The loss of private and public property is estimated at Rs. 215 crore. The district continues to remain disconnected from Bangalore both by rail and road.

No ?relief?

The district administration claimed that 27,099 people had been evacuated from flood-hit areas and housed in 53 relief camps in Gulbarga district. The condition in the relief camps, which now serve as shelter to evacuees from marooned villages in Surpur, Shahapur, Yadgir and Jewargi taluks, is pathetic. They lack basic amenities and people have been waiting endlessly for officials to provide them blankets and other basic requirements.
?We were bundled into a tractor-trailer like goats and dumped in this school and were made to wait for more than five hours for our lunch, which was served at 4.30 p.m.,? said Mallamma Subash who, along with her three children, had to flee from her house in Chikka Jewargi following a flash-flood. More than 300 residents of Chikka Jewargi were brought to the Government High School in Jewargi town, which was converted as a temporary relief camp by the authorities.

Some of the inmates of the relief camp included women in advanced stages of pregnancy and few who had given birth to babies just two or three days back. The inmates of the camp bitterly complained that even the pregnant women were not provided blankets and were made to sit on the floor.

Out of sight


Pathepur, a remote village in Raichur taluk with a population predominantly belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Backward Classes, has been all but overlooked by the district administration.

With a population of 1,000, nearly 100 huts collapsed in floods and several people, mostly shepherds, went missing.

The district administration has not yet reached the village or sent any assistance.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/04/stories/2009100454170400.htm

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Floods kill 200 in Andhra, Karnataka; thousands affected
AGENCIES 4 October 2009, 05:19pm IST


HYDERABAD/BANGALORE: Floods triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 200 people in the past five days in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and have destroyed standing crops and left tens of thousands of people homeless, officials said on Sunday.

At least 167 people have been killed in Karnataka, where several rivers burst their mud embankments following heavy rains and swept away houses.

"There is death and destruction all around us," said Basavaraj Bommai, a senior government minister, in Bangalore.

Authorities said vast areas of agricultural land, including sugarcane and paddy fields were under water in the state.

"The crop loss estimate is being ascertained, our top priority is to provide relief to thousands of homeless people," said Bangalore Home (Interior) Minister V S Acharya.

Acharya said most of the victims died in house collapses or were swept away by the flood waters. More than 100,000 people were homeless and television pictures showed hundreds of people waving at helicopters carrying relief materials from rooftops. Some were seen clinging on to tree branches.

In the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh, at least 33 people have died and more than 1.8 million people have been affected by the floods, officials said.
The trading and cotton-growing border town of Kurnool, which is dotted with ancient forts, was the worst affected, where 15 people have died in the past two days and thousands affected, officials said.

"We have evacuated 40,000 people in Kurnool town alone," said Dinesh Kumar, a senior disaster management official said in Hyderabad.
Rescue efforts by the army, navy and air force intensified as they attempted to reach villages surrounded by flooded fields. A team from India's National Disaster Response Force was also deployed, and officials said relief operations were working to halt any outbreak of disease.

"We are deploying medical teams in the affected areas to prevent the occurrence of epidemics," said S Subramanyam, special commissioner for disaster management in Hyderabad.

Water levels were receding and rainfall had returned to normal in some areas, but dams continued to overflow as the river Krishna in Karnataka breached its banks.

Residents faced misery after the floods washed away the mud and stones holding their poorly-constructed homes together.

Almost 600 relief centres were sheltering more than 170,000 people in north Karnataka, the area hit hardest by heavy rainfall.

In Andhra Pradesh, 270,000 people were gathered in more than 100 shelters.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa conducted an aerial survey of the flood zones and has also written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to declare the situation a national disaster. Yeddyurappa also asked for two billion dollars in aid to rebuild destroyed towns and villages.

Officials said the death toll could increase as 5,000 people were still trapped in flood-hit remote areas, and rescuers were yet to reach many villages.

Almost 1,000 people have been killed by severe flooding in India this year, while tens of thousands more have lost their homes and seen large swathes of their farmland devastated, according to the Red Cross.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ka-thousands-affected/articleshow/5084608.cms

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

1.78 crore(17.8 million) people affected by rains in Karnataka: CM

STAFF WRITER 22:29 HRS IST
Bangalore, Oct 4 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said about 1.78 crore people in 15 districts of the state have been affected by the heavy rains that caused extensive damages and demanded a relief package of Rs 10,000 crore from the Centre.

The damages to crop and public/private property are unprecedented and would exceed Rs 20,000 crore. Relief and reconstruction operations need to be taken up on a colossal scale considering the magnitude of the tragedy, he said.

Yeddyurappa requested the Centre to declare the calamity a "National Calamity" and release relief under NCCF (National Calamity Contingency Fund) to the extent of Rs 10,000 crore.

In separate letters sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram, Yeddyurappa said the state has been facing unprecedented floods in 15 districts of North Karnataka and coastal regions
http://ptinews.com/news/314005_1-78-crore-people-affected-by-rains-in-Karnataka--CM

1 Crore = 10 million
Rs 10,000 crore = $2 billion

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

From Andhra Pradesh

Flood to hit 1mn more
TNN 5 October 2009, 03:59am IST

HYDERABAD/VIJAYAWADA: The flood fury descended on Krishna and Guntur districts by Sunday night with as many as 300 villages already submerged and an
equal amount of devastation expected by Monday morning. As many as 10 lakh (1 million) people are expected to bear the brunt of the flooding in these two districts.
With Nagarjunasagar dam letting off 9 lakh cusecs of water by 9 pm on Sunday, the inflow at Prakasam barrage is going to be unprecedented by Sunday midnight. ?By midnight, we would have to release about 11 lakh cusecs from Prakasam barrage,? Guntur collector B Ramanjaneyulu told TOI.

The floodwater buried many villages in Ibrahimpatnam mandal while people from Kotikalapudi, Damulur, Chiluvur, Mulapadu, Kesavapuram, Jupudi fled for safety. By 10 pm on Sunday, water was flowing at 10 ft at Paleru bridge in Jaggaihapet mandal bringing traffic to a grinding halt. Three villages in Avanigadda and one village each in Ghantasala and Mopidevi in Diviseema have already been marooned and about 2,000 families brought to relief camps.
The situation in neighbouring Guntur was no better with floodwater entering most of the lanka villages in the evening. The road link between Pesarlanka was cut off, leaving 800 people stranded. The villagers from Pesarlanka refused to go to the relief centre at Kollur stating there were no facilities.

Among the places affected were Vanigadda, Nagayalanka, Koduru, Ibrahimpatnam, Jaggaiahapet, Nandigama, Chandarlapdu, Kanchikacherla, Mopidevi, Thotlavallur mandals in Krishna district and Bhattiprolu, Repalle, Kollur, Kollipara, Dachepalli, Machavaram, Atchampet, Amaravathi, Bellamkonda, Tadepalli mandals in Guntur district.

Crops in four lakh acres was under water, while three lakh (300,000) people were evacuated to relief centres. The temple town of Amaravathi was cut off. Villages in the vicinity of Pulichintala project, Pulichinta, Chityala, Gollapeta, Kollur disappeared after floodwater surged at a height of 30 ft. The water level at Pulichintala project is at 44 ft, causing a huge loss to the project machinery and works.
CM K Rosaiah along with revenue minister Dharmana Prasada Rao made an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in Krishna and declared the government was geared to face the situation.

The government on Sunday decided to urge the Centre to declare it a national calamity and extend all help from National Calamity and Contingency Fund. It is preparing a report on the impact of floods and a memorandum is likely to be submitted to UPA chief Sonia Gandhi who would visit the state on Monday.

Anticipating outbreak of disease, the government has issued a health alert in all the four affected districts. Although the official death toll is put at 38, more bodies are likely to be discovered once the floodwater recedes.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/hyderabad/Flood-to-hit-1mn-more/articleshow/5088357.cms

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Rain fury claims 240 lives in three states
STAFF WRITER 14:27 HRS IST
Vijayawada/Bangalore, Oct 5 (PTI) The heaviest flood in over a 100 years today hit the Prakasam Barrage on Krishna River threatening several villages downstream even as the toll due to heavy rains and rampaging floods in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra climbed to 240.

River Krishna virtually turned into a sea in all its fury as a record 10.61 lakh cusecs of flood water reached Prakasam Barrage.

This is the heaviest flood in river Krishna in more than 106 years as the previous record stands at 10.30 lakh cusecs in 1903, irrigation authorities said in Vijayawada.

The water level touched 21.4 feet at Prakasam Barrage and all the 72 sluice gates have been lifted to let out water into Bay of Bengal.

While Karnataka accounted for 178 deaths following recovery of 10 more bodies in northern and coastal regions of the state, Andhra Pradesh registered 37 deaths while Maharashtra 25.
http://ptinews.com/news/314436_Rain-fury-claims-240-lives-in-three-states

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Floods batter Andhra, Karnataka; 1.5m homeless
AGENCIES 5 October 2009, 08:09pm IST

VIJAYAWADA/BELLARY: Andhra Pradesh geared up for more floods as a swollen Krishna river Monday inundated parts of Vijayawada city and threatened to
swamp 200 villages in Krishna and Guntur districts, while the overall flood situation continued to be grim in the rest of the state.

Many colonies along the left bank of Krishna river in Vijayawada city got submerged as the flood level touched four feet this evening. The situation is expected to remain grim till Wednesday as the flood discharge at Prakasam Barrage will continue to be over 11 lakh cusecs, officials said.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi undertook an aerial survey of the ravaged areas in Bellary district and Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who accompanied her, said the state suffered an unprecedented damage exceeding Rs 20,000 crore. ($4 billion)

Torrential rains left a trail of death and destruction in 15 districts of Karnataka damaging over two lakh houses in 1,467 villages subsided since Sunday.
Bijapur district bore the brunt of the rain fury with 31 deaths followed by Raichur and Bagalkote (26 each). Over 4.53 lakh people have been sheltered in 13,330 relief camps.
A 500 m-long bridge across 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 10.30 lakh 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 10.3 lakh cusescs from 11 lakh cusecs on Sunday.

The authorities are constantly monitoring the level at the Prakasam barrage across the Krishna river and they said if Monday night passed without much damage to the 200 villages downstream in the two districts the threat would be averted.

Officials are describing it as the worst flood in Krishna river in 100 years.

The focus of the flood threat has now shifted to the coastal areas. Kurnool and Mahbubnagar districts, which bore the brunt of the flood fury during the last four days, are struggling to come back to normalcy. Though the officials have put the death toll at 49, it could go up as dozens of people are still reported missing.
The weakening embankments at a few points along the river have raised the spectre of inundation of vast areas and authorities have mobilised 300,000 sand bags to strengthen the embankments.

The water level at the barrage, the last irrigation project across Krishna river before it falls in the Bay of Bengal, stands at 21.5 feet.

Though authorities said there was no threat to the barrage, the weakening embankments at a few points was worrying.

"There is three to four feet water in some areas in Vijayawada city and this may go up to six to seven feet later. We have already moved out of the area near the river," Suresh Kumar, a resident, told IANS.

Krishna District Collector Piyush Kumar said army, navy and the National Disaster Response Force were ready with 100 boats and six helicopters to rescue people in the district.

Vehicular traffic on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway came to a standstill as the highway was under water at several points.

However, receding water levels at Srisailam dam and in the tributaries of Krishna have provided some respite to Kurnool and Mahbubnagar, where 1.1 million people have been affected. People are returning to their homes in Kurnool town and other affected areas to only find that they have lost everything.

Pathetic scenes were witnessed in the affected areas as men and women were trying to salvage whatever they could from the slush in their damaged houses. Debris, garbage and carcasses of cattle washed away by floods were seen scattered all over. Sanitation workers were having a tough time to take up cleaning work.

Ministers and officials who visited the affected areas had to face the ire of the people who protested the tardy relief work. Some people alleged that cleaning work was being taken up only in a few areas.

According to official figures, the floods have so far claimed 49 lives in five districts. Kurnool district accounted for 26 deaths while 17 people died in Mahbubnagar. The remaining deaths were reported from the districts of Krishna (three), Nalgonda (two) and Guntur (one).

About 500 villages were inundated by the floods that impacted over 1.8 million people in five districts. About 70,000 houses were damaged in five districts while over 400,000 people were rendered homeless.

The state government has doubled the compensation for the families of the victims to Rs.200,000.

Revenue and Relief Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao said the state government had done well to keep the loss of lives to the minimum. "In neighbouring Karnataka over 200 people were killed in heavy rains and floods while despite facing worst-ever floods the death toll in our state is under 50," he said.

The state has estimated the loss due to the floods at Rs.12,225 crore and sought immediate assistance of Rs.6,000 crore from the centre.

United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who Monday conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas, assured all possible assistance from the centre.

The state government urged the centre to declare the floods a national calamity. This will enable the state to avail assistance under the National Calamity Contingency Fund.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...arnataka-15m-homeless/articleshow/5090113.cms

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Death toll in Karnataka rain mounts to 197

STAFF WRITER 14:59 HRS IST
Bangalore, Oct 6 (PTI) With the recovery of three more bodies, the toll in the rain havoc in northern and coastal regions of Karnataka has gone up to 197, officials said here today.

Two bodies were recovered from Chikkaballapura district and one from Karwar in Uttara Kannada district where a landslide triggered by the rains had occurred last week.

As many as 1,469 villages have been affected, 2,81,315 houses either collapsed or damaged due to the rains, officials said.

As many as 6,17,633 rain-hit people have been accommodated in 1,619 relief camps, they added.
http://ptinews.com/news/316588_Death-toll-in-Karnataka-rain-mounts-to-197

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Deaths in K'taka, AP cross 250, over 25 villages submerge
STAFF WRITER 19:9 HRS IST
Vijayawada/Bangalore, Oct 6 (PTI) Over 25 villages were submerged in Andhra Pradesh today due to a 50-ft breach caused to the embankment of Krishna river as the toll in the state and in Karnataka due to unseasonal rains rose to 252.
The toll in northern and coastal Karnataka went up to 197 with rescue workers recovering three more bodies in Chikkaballapura and Uttara Kannada districts where a landslide triggered by the rains had occurred last week.

Officials said 2,81,315 houses have either collapsed or damaged and 1,469 villages have been affected. As many as 6,17,633 rain-hit people have been accommodated in 1,619 relief camps.

In Andhra Pradesh, the situation also showed signs of improvement but reports of flood-related deaths continued to pour in with the official toll standing at 55.
http://ptinews.com/news/317294_Deaths-in-K-taka--AP-cross-250--over-25-villages-submerge

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Koppal: Fresh wave of misery
Satish Shile,DH News Service,Oct 6,Koppal:

Chikungunya, viral fever, diarrhoea - all these ailments are being detected in the flood-hit areas of Koppal. People, who were worried about the gushing water around them for the last four days, are now concerned about the spread of water-borne diseases.


On Monday alone, Dr Sharanappa Hiregowdar, medical officer at the community health centre (CHC) in Hiresindogi attended to 60 patients suffering from viral fever. Nine cases of chikungunya were reported on the day. Besides, four cases of diarrhoea were also reported.

The number of patients visiting the centre with complaints of fever and bodyache has gone up after the heavy rains and floods.

Water-borne diseases generally spread through mosquitoes. Chikungunya, particularly, is caused by a mosquito which breeds on fresh water. After the flooding, sources for breeding of mosquitoes are many. As a result, the disease is spreading rapidly.
When this reporter visited the CHC, there were a huge number of patients there. The staff had attended to over 90 patients till 4 pm.

The staff informed that basic amenities could not be offered to in-patients at the health centre, which is the only one in 19 villages.

The OT has been closed for four days, as there was no power supply. For cases that came after dark, the doctors were forced to deliver babies in candlelight! ?The Government has built a 40-bed hospital in the village. Soon, we will shift to the new building,? the doctor said.

For four days, the villages of Hiresindogi, Chikkasindogi and Gunnalli were marooned in water. People were stranded in water for many hours. Yet, they do not have any drinking water.

The villagers of Chikkasindogi fetch water from a handpump at Gali Durgamma temple, about a kilometre from the village. Those in Hiresindogi depend on Hirehalla water for drinking too. ?We are not getting good water here. We have been drinking water fetched from Hirehalla. We are unable to boil water as we cannot enter our houses which are in dilapidated condition. Most of the people and children are suffering from cough and fever,? said Gangamma of Hiresindogi.
Halogen tablets have been distributed to the villagers. The staff have been kept on alert. They will now have to visit villages and hold fever census. They will report the serious cases immediately, the doctor said.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/29135/koppal-fresh-wave-misery.html

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

South India floods death toll crosses 300: Officials
AFP 7 October 2009, 01:41pm IST


BURDIPADU: The death toll from the worst floods to hit south India in decades has passed 300, officials said on Wednesday, as relief efforts
struggled to help survivors.

At least 1.5 million people have been displaced in the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh after days of torrential rain.
More than 200 people have been killed in Karnataka alone, said HV Parashwanath, secretary of Karnataka's disaster monitoring agency.

"There could be 200,000 to 300,000 people in villages where aid has not reached," he said.

Authorities said more than half a million people were in relief camps in Andhra Pradesh, with a further 650,000 in shelters in Karnataka.

Residents who stayed in their homes took refuge on balconies and rooftops, complaining that food and aid had been slow to reach them.

Maheswar, a 46-year-old farmer in the village of Burdipadu in Karnataka, lost all his crops to the floods.

"The government needs to help us. For the next three months, I have nothing to feed my parents, wife or three children," he said.

India's defence ministry said the military had delivered more than 4.5 tonnes of food to survivors whose grain stocks have been wiped out.

The floods sent food prices rocketing throughout the region, with rice and sugarcane among the worst-damaged crops.

Tens of thousands of livestock carcasses littered fields and roads.

"The long term impact is what should concern all of us, especially in a year when we were going through a drought," Jayakumar Christian, India director for World Vision, told AFP from Chennai, capital of southern Tamil Nadu state.

"Earlier there was migration due to drought and now there is migration due to monsoon," he said.

Aid workers focused on health risks as drainage systems collapsed, contaminating water supplies and heightening the risk of epidemic.

Christian estimated that around seven million people were affected in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh where major rivers breached their banks last week.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...rosses-300-Officials-/articleshow/5096920.cms

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Flood-hit areas turn plague grounds
TNN 7 October 2009, 12:25pm IST

HYDERABAD: After being submerged in water for five days, Kurnool, Krishna, Mahbubnagar, Guntur, East Godavari and Kadapa districts are now the
possible breeding grounds for cholera, malaria and acute diarrhoea diseases. With medical teams unable to reach interior parts of the flood-hit districts, observers say that a health calamity could break out if people across these regions were not given preventive medicines.

State health authorities fear outbreak of diseases, as residents had to wade through flood water, slush and mud and had no potable water to drink. Cases of diarrhoea are already being reported in the hospitals and doctors say that if the slush, animal carcasses are not cleared immediately, the condition could turn worse.

"Dogs are feeding on the carcasses. Large areas remain uncleared of the debris and bodies, which pose a real danger as infections can spread like wildfire. We can provide treatment but cannot prevent. Moreover, as the road connectivity is cut off, ambulances are unable to reach the worst-hit Kurnool district," said a health team worker at Mahbubnagar's Alampur area. While chlorine tablets and bleaching powder packets are being distributed by health teams, such exercise is limited to only accessible areas. A doctor from the Kurnool Medical College requesting anonymity said that while he along with his team was supposed to have reached the interior parts on Tuesday, they were unable to do so because of unfavourable conditions.

State officials claim they are gearing up to prevent the spread of the infection on a war footing. But health officials admit that in Kurnool and Mahbubnagar, the government machinery itself is not active as they have themselves been hit due to the floods. State health officials said that about 150 medical teams were deployed in the flood-hit districts
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...s-turn-plague-grounds/articleshow/5096742.cms

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8294255.stm

India floods trigger food fears
Flood victims in Andhra Pradesh

In pictures: India flooding
Floods: 'Misery everywhere'

Heavy floods in southern India have damaged hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crops and could lead to severe food shortages, aid agencies say.

More than 250 people have died and millions have been displaced in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka after the worst floods in decades.

Authorities in Karnataka have warned against the outbreak of water-borne diseases in camps for flood victims.

The rains came on the back of one of the worst droughts in India.

Relief workers are trying to transport food and medicines to hundreds of thousands of people who remain cut off in their villages by flood waters.

Growing concerns

"There could be 200,000 to 300,000 people in villages where aid has not reached," HV Parashwanath, secretary of Karnataka's disaster monitoring agency told the AFP news agency.

More than a million people are now living in temporary relief camps.

Aid workers are also supplementing the government's efforts.

Cases of villagers suffering from viral fever, diarrhoea and chikungunya, a form of malaria, have been reported from a few flood-affected districts of Karnataka, officials say.

"We have asked everybody to be alert and careful," Karnataka health secretary IR Perumal told BBC.

Teams of doctors have spread out across affected districts, and water-purifying tablets are being distributed, officials say.

"There is a danger of epidemic diseases," Red Cross official NG Narayana said.

But concern is now growing over the long-term impact of the floods.

Only last week the government announced that India had experienced its worst drought in nearly 40 years.

The floods have now dashed any hopes of a recovery in food production, according to World Vision.

"At a national level this will definitely have a say on our food stocks because these places in south India were the ones where there was some evidence of monsoon and summer crop having survived. But now that also is gone at least in Andhra, Karnataka and these districts," Jayakumar Christian, India director for World Vision said.

"Earlier there was migration due to drought and now there is migration due to monsoon," he said.

India's defence ministry said the army had delivered more than 4.5 tonnes of food to survivors who had lost their food stocks.

The rains were blamed by weather experts on a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal.

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Flooding Issues: Relief Camps, Outbreaks

Suicidal tendencies surface among flood victims
Ch Sushil Rao, TNN 9 October 2009, 05:02am IST


ALAMPUR (MAHABUBNAGAR): For many survivors of the floods in this village in Mahabubnagar district, the receding of the flood waters is not the end
of their woes. With everything lost in the floods and prospects of a bleak future, some of them are developing suicidal tendencies.

What the victims need, apart from food, clothing and shelter, is also emotional support and encouraging words to the effect that they can rebuild their future. Khaja Mia of Alampur village dreads the prospects of beginning life all over again at 65. That too, with a fractured leg. Khaja Mia fled from his house after the flood waters entered it and is still in a state of shock. His family members said he has not eaten since the flood fury hit him last week.

Khaja Mia is not alone. With despair writ large on her face, C Kanthamma is moving around in Alampur in a state of bewilderment. ?I ran away from the flood but I do not know what I will run into in the future. Life is not worth living,? she said.

Such is the traumatic experience for the victims that a number of them are just sitting and staring at the sky or the people around them. The sudden turn of events that forced them onto the roads is proving to be very distressing for them.

By Wednesday, an employee of the Government Junior college at Alampur who managed to save himself from the flood became hysterical. He was seen going around, telling everyone how it was not worth living anymore.

At Janumpally village, so overcome are some of the villages with the fear of the future that they think suicide is the only way out. For example, people like G Venkataratnam spent more than Rs one lakh to cultivate land taken on lease. Not only are those loans to be repaid, they also have to take care of the basic needs of their families. The fields of the villagers are all submerged. According to J Dhananjaneya, another villager, several hundreds of acres of crop have got submerged in the Krishna waters which flooded their village.

If it is not fear of the future, it is the inhuman conditions that they are having to suffer in the present that has shaken up several victims, especially the aged. Grief-stricken at not having anyone come to their aid, elderly men and women, are feeling unwanted. They do not want to be a burden to their children who themselves are having to struggle to survive each day in the aftermath of the flood.

?What use is living? We have seen the real nature of people only after the flood. They do not care for us when we need to be taken care of the most,? said Bojamma and her husband Atchanna.

?Neither the state government nor the relief agencies are addressing this major issue of emotional counselling, which is why quite a few people are likely to never recover from the flood tragedy that turned their lives upside down,? said one district official.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...e-among-flood-victims/articleshow/5104227.cms