REFUGEE

Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have witnessed the heaviest flood in the river Krishna and its tributaries in more than 106 years. The devastation is on an unprecedented scale. Both states will take months to come back to a semblance of normal life.

Water literally poured into the reservoirs in Karnataka under heavy rain. Unable to hold the water, it was allowed to flow down stream into the Bay of Bengal through Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar and Prakasam barrage in Andhra Pradesh.

On Monday, 10.61 lakh cusecs of swollen Krishna waters gushed down the Praksam barrage in Vijayawada pounding the flood banks designed to take 11 lakh cusecs of water and inundating several villages and even low lying areas of Vijayawada town itself.

This is the heaviest flood in river Krishna in more than 106 years as the previous record stands at 10.30 lakh cusecs in 1903, irrigation authorities said. The water level touched 21.4 feet at Prakasam Barrage and all the 72 sluice gates had been lifted to let out water into Bay of Bengal.

Upstream at Srisailam, the power generation plants are submerged. Nearby Kurnool town, which was the capital of Andhra state when it was created in the fifties bore the brunt of floods in Kunduleru and other rivers. The flood waters have receded but left behind mounds of mud. In most places some 23 feet high mud is accumulated forcing the government to deploy machines in mud clearing operation.

Sonia Gandhi, who heads the ruling coalition in Delhi, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) made an aerial survey of flood hit areas in AP and Karnataka accompanied by Home Minister P Chidambaram and law minister Veerappa MoilyKarnataka chief minister Yeddyurappa has requested the Centre to declare the flood havoc as national calamity. He also sought an aid of Rs 10,000 crore and to

Chief Minister Rosiah accompanied Sonia Gandhi on the AP leg and apprised her of the havoc. He estimated the flood damage at Rs. 1,225 crore.

She told him: ‘The Centre and State Government should join hands to provide relief to the flood victims. Andhra Pradesh administration is known for its competence. I am sure normal conditions would return soon. Centre would help the state in every way. Keep up the good work.’

The death toll in Andhra Pradesh is put at 37 but it could go up as rescue teams have reported seeing bodies floating in the swollen waters. Many villages are still inaccessible in Kurnool, Mahaboobnagar, Nalgonda, Guntur and Krishna districts.. Hundreds of people have been trapped on roof-tops without food and water for three days.

AP official data shows that the floods triggered by heavy rains have inundated 400 villages, affecting a population of over 1.8 million and rendering 400,000 people homeless. Over 5,000 houses have been damaged while crops in over half a million acres have been lost.
.
The situation is no different in Northern Karnataka which faced the flood fury.
Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa will undertake a padayatra to raise money for rehabilitationHe has promised to build 200,000 new homes. Several villages in the Cauvery and Krishna basins will be permanently relocated.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was likely to undertake an aerial survey of the flooded regions on Tuesday.

-Asian Tribune-