Date:07/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/07/stories/2006080704411200.htm

National

Army, IAF step up flood relief work

Special Correspondent

Torrential monsoon rain lashes Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra

NEW DELHI: With the flood situation remaining grim, the Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF) have stepped up relief operations in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, according to official sources. The Army is also engaged in flood relief operations in Ladakh where several villages were cut off.

The Army has rushed 300 soldiers from Aurangabad to the flood-affected areas of Hingoli, Yavetmal and Washim while two task forces of Army engineers have gone to Nanded, according to an Army officer. IAF helicopters are also airlifting people in these areas. The IAF is assisting civil authorities in Bhadrachalam district (Andhra Pradesh) and Jagdalpur district (Chhattishgarh). It has so far carried out over 100 sorties and dropped 75 tonnes of relief material, including food, water and medicines, said the IAF spokesperson.

A trail of destruction

PTI reports:

Torrential monsoon rain on Sunday crippled Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, claiming 15 lives, as the flood situation continued to be grim in Andhra Pradesh, where the death toll rose to 62.

Normal life was hit in Chhattisgarh, where five persons were washed away in floods. In Orissa fresh floods claimed eight lives.

In Maharashtra, five people died when a wall collapsed in Nanded district, while 10 died in western Vidharbha in different rain-related incidents, officials said.

Over 10,000 people were evacuated to safer places after the Godavari river crossed the danger mark at several places.

Heavy rain for the third consecutive day flooded Mumbai's streets and crippled rail and road traffic in the bustling metropolis.

Commuter trains on the Central and Harbour lines were disrupted due to waterlogging of tracks.

Authorities used two helicopters to evacuate people in three villages in Vidarbha region. The Painganga river was in spate in Yavatmal district, leaving about 1,300 people stranded.

People living along the banks of the Godavari were alerted after the Irrigation Department released 11,610 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from the Gangapur dam.

In Andhra Pradesh, the flood situation in Bhadrachalam town was grim with the Godavari river in spate. Authorities evacuated 14,000 families to relief camps set up near the temple town, officials said.

The rain, triggered by a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal, played havoc in the north coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam. Districts in coastal and Telengana regions too experienced heavy rains that left a trail of destruction and death.

The death toll in Andhra Pradesh in rain-related incidents rose to 62, with Visakhapatnam accounting for the maximum number of deaths (14), followed by Vizianagaram (11), Khammam (eight), East Godavari (six), Nizamabad and Warangal (four each) and Srikakulam (three).

One death was registered in West Godavari, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Guntur and Nalgonda districts while Krishna and Medak districts accounted for two deaths each, officials said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy made an aerial survey of the affected districts.

Trains, buses and flights were cancelled as roads, railway tracks and the Visakhapatnam airport were inundated by floodwaters.

People evacuated

Godavari and its tributaries were overflowing and people in low-lying areas of Khammam, Adilabad, Nizamabad and East and West Godavari districts were shifted to safer places. Two Navy boats from Visakhaptanam, 16 helicopters and small mechanised boats were used to evacuate people.

In Orissa, three persons were swept away by the Kolab river while a man died when a wall collapsed on him in Koraput district on August 3, officials said. Another person was drowned in the floodwaters in Jajpur.