BANGALORE, India: Devastating floods that killed more than 230 people in southern India have left close to 1.5 million others homeless, officials said Monday.
Source: AFP
- The floods, triggered by days of torrential rain, have inundated swathes of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states, causing mass evacuations and leaving hundreds of thousands dependent on relief camps.
- The death toll on Monday stood at 233, with 170 killed in Karnataka, 37 in Andhra Pradesh and 26 in Maharashtra.
- With the rains showing signs of easing, officials said relief efforts were now focused on providing shelter to survivors whose homes had been wiped out.
- In Karnataka, one million people were homeless, of which more than 350,000 people had taken shelter in 1,200 relief camps in the worst-hit northern districts, H.V. Parashwanath, secretary of the state's disaster monitoring agency, told AFP.
- "We have commenced a survey to identify the remaining homeless for resettling and rehabilitation," he said.
- At least 200,000 homes were destroyed in Karnataka and almost 1,500 villages were partially or completely submerged, Parashwanath added.
- Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah said around 475,000 people had been evacuated from their homes.
- Water discharged from the river Krishna threatened to engulf parts of the city of Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, which was entirely cut off from the state capital Hyderabad after police closed the main road connecting the two.
- Road transportation and train services were also hit.
- The head of India's Congress Party Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister P. Chidambaram made an inspection flight over the affected areas in both states on Monday.
- In Maharashtra, S.C. Mohanty, head of the state's disaster management cell, said the situation was now "close to normal," after thousands had been evacuated from southern coastal areas.
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