CM Yediyurappa to conduct aerial survey, take stock of flood-hit areas
BENGALURU: With rising water levels in Bhima and Krishana rivers continuing to ravage parts of Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur and Vijayapura, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday said he would undertake an aerial survey on October 21 to take stock of the situation.
Yediyurappa will conduct the aerial survey of the four districts where hundreds of villages have been inundated completely or partially. In a statement, he said that an aerial survey was necessary to fully understand the extent of damage caused due to incessant rains and swelling water levels in the two rivers owing to additional water release from dams of Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army continued with rescue operations for the second day along with national and state disaster response forces. Hundreds of people left marooned in inundated regions were rescued and shifted to relief centres.
According to the Karnataka Disaster Management Authority (KDMA), a total of 20,269 people, including 15,078 in badly hit Kalaburagi, have been evacuated so far by the personnel of the Army, the Nat ional Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), besides local police and district authorities.
A total of 111 villages in the four districts have been affected by the floods, caused by heavy rains and water released by the dams in neighbouring Maharashtra. This is the third time that Karnataka is facing severe flooding in a little more than one year. Karnataka is still awaiting relief from the Union government for floods in August-September earlier this year.