BELAGAVI: Despite the much-needed respite from rains, the situation in the flood-ravaged Krishna basin across Belagavi and Raichur, remained grim as rescue teams grappled to evacuate thousands caught in the flooded areas.
As a result of the massive release of water from Maharashtra dams and Almatti again on Saturday, rescue operations became tough in Belagavi, Bagalkot, Gadag and Raichur, which were inaccessible due to heavy flooding.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit the district and conduct an aerial survey of the flooded areas of North Karnataka on Sunday. According to sources, he will land in Sambra airport and will leave for the aerial survey before returning to Belagavi city to hold a meeting of officials.
The administration has demanded for helicopters as it became tough to rescue people caught in heavily flooded areas of Darur, Ingalgavi, Sapthasagar, Maheshwadgi and Hulagbali. However, helicopters couldn’t be used due to the inclement weather on Saturday.
Besides, more than 400 villages are marooned in Krishna basin, and another 17 were inundated in Vijayapura on Saturday. Hundreds of people were evacuated from flooded villages in Badami, Pattadakallu, Jamakhandi and Muddebihal in Bagalkot and Vijayapura by the NDRF teams on Saturday afternoon.
In a fresh incident, the Bidar-Srirangapattana state highway has been closed due to flooding while another major road at Devapur, near Surpur was closed for traffic.
In the backdrop of flooding due to the release of Narayanpur backwaters, Raichur villages of Partapur, Mudgod, Hireraikampi and Karkihalli are marooned.
Efforts are on move people from several flood-prone villages in Raichur to safer areas due to fear of floods on Saturday evening.
Saturday’s flow from Koyna to Krishna was recorded at 77,387 lakh cusec.
Meanwhile, the situation in Belagavi city improved as people got huge respite from the rains throughout the day. However, the rains continued in the evening.