66 people killed in Kerala and Karnataka so far as flood throws life out of gear
Kerala and Karnataka continued to face a grim situation on Saturday due to floods and landslides triggered by torrential rain that have left 66 people dead in the two States in the last couple of days and disrupted normal life.
In fact, reports said there have been as many as 80 landslides in Kerala alone. In Gujarat, as many as 19 people lost their lives in rain-related incidents since Friday while the toll stood at 12 in Maharashtra during the same period.
Former Union Minister and Congress leader B Janardhana Poojary was rescued in Karnataka while an 8-month pregnant woman and an 11-month-old baby were among many safely evacuated from flood-affected places on Saturday.
According to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who took stock of the flood situation on Saturday, around 80 landslides had occurred in 8 districts in the last three days. He, however, allayed fears of opening dams, saying all the major dams have enough storage capacity. The Konkan Railway Corporation has suspended the services of one train besides partially cancelling two others along its route on Saturday due to heavy rain in the State.
The overall death toll climbed to 42 in Kerala.
Many people are still feared trapped under debris Kavalappara in Malappuram and Puthumala in Meppadi in Wayanad. As rescue operations were on in Kavalappara, another landslide occurred in the region on Saturday due to which search operations have been halted. The India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for eight districts in Kerala
According to Central Water Commission (CWC) officials, one of the four shutters of the Banasurasagar dam, located about 21 km from Kalpetta in Wayanad, one of the worst affected districts, was opened at 3 pm to discharge excess water and people on the banks of the Kabini river have been asked to be cautious. One of the largest earth dams in India and the second largest of its kind in Asia, Banasurasagar impounds the Karamanathodu tributary of the Kabini River.
The Karnataka Government pegged the damage caused by torrential downpour and subsequent floods in the State at Rs 6,000 crore even as the toll from various rain-related incidents stood at 24. Terming it the biggest calamity in 45 years, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has sought Rs 3,000 crore as relief from the Centre.
As many as 222 head of livestock is dead and 44,013 head of cattle have been evacuated and provided shelter. The Yediyurappa Government has assessed that 3,22,448 hectares of agricultural land have been damaged due to floods and landslides. As many as 243 PWD roads have been blocked while 2,450 km roads, 530 bridges, 56 public buildings have been damaged. As many as 2.35 lakh people have been moved to safety.
In Maharashtra, over 4.24 lakh people have been evacuated and shifted to safer places across the State. A total of 761 villages in 69 ‘talukas’ in the State were affected by flood. Over two lakh homes are without power and are facing shortage of fresh water, as many storage tanks have either got damaged or are filled with dirty flood waters in Sangli and Kolhapur.
In Sangli, crops on 27,468 hectares have been affected and 484 km of roads were damaged in the district. In the rescue boat capsize incident at Bramhmanal, 12 people drowned and eight were missing, but no deaths were reported from elsewhere in Sangli.
In Tamil Nadu, the IAF rescued 11 people, including two infants from rain-battered Avalanchi in Nilgiris District in Tamil Nadu and shifted them to Coimbatore for medical help.
In Gujarat, the area near the Vishwamitri River has experienced flooding due to a rise in the water level from heavy rainfall. As many as 19 people died in the last 24 hours due to floods and torrential rains this season. Incessant rains lashed across state’s 251 tehsils over the last 24 hour. The entire State has received an overall of 3 to 15 inches of rain. In the last 12 hours, two buildings collapsed due to incessant rains claimed 10 lives.
