Hyderabad, October 07: The Centre assured Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka that funds were not a constraint to rehabilitate the flood-ravaged people in the two states, even as fresh flooding inundated dozens of villages in Krishna and Guntur districts in Andhra Pradsh.
Tuesday’s flood was caused by the Krishna river breaching its embankment but a major tragedy was averted as most of the people in the affected villages had moved to safety. Several who had stayed back were rescued.
The rain and flood havoc that began on September 30 in the northern districts of Karnataka and moved to engulf neighbouring areas in Andhra Padesh have so far claimed around 260 lives in the two states and left millions homeless.
The toll in Karnataka is 206, an official statement said Tuesday. Fifty-two deaths have been reported in Andhra Pradesh.
The Karnataka government has estimated the loss to property and crops at Rs 20,000 crore. Andhra Pradesh has put its losses at Rs12,500 crore.
“We were deeply moved by the scale of the calamity,” Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Tuesday, a day after he accompanied Congress President and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on an aerial survey of the trail of death and destruction in the two states.
“The loss of life, property, cattle and standing crops is enormous. Lakhs of people have been accommodated in camps,” he said in a statement in New Delhi and told the two state governments that the central government was ready to give more help
“I wish to assure the state governments that availability of funds will not be a constraint and that they should focus on providing relief to the affected people,” Chidambaram said.
He promised further measures after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherji returns on Wednesday from his foreign trip.
Apart from claiming 52 lives, the floods in Andhra Pradesh have affected over 1.6 million people in five districts. Half a million people are homeless.
In Karnataka, around 290,000 houses have been partially or fully damaged in around 1,500 villages and over 5,000 cattle have perished. About 660,000 people have taken shelter in over 1,600 relief camps.
As Andhra Pradesh battled fresh floods, Karnataka was banking on the public, NGOs, religious and educational institutions and corporates to join its efforts in rebuilding the lives of more than a million people left homeless by three days of massive downpour and flash floods.
While Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah quoted experts to say that the massive floods were a rare phenomenon and occur once in 1,000 years, his Karnataka counterpart described said this was the worst flood in 100 years.
-IANS