Bengaluru: The flood situation worsened in Karnataka yesterday and the death toll rose to 40. Fourteen people are reportedly missing.
A day after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman conducted an aerial survey of the worst-affected Belagavi and Bagalkote districts, BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa conducted an aerial survey in Belagavi to assess the extent of damage.
A media report said, about 5.82 lakh people have been evacuated to safety of which 3.27 lakh have been housed in 1,168 relief camps. A total of 50,595 heads of livestock had been rescued. 80 taluks in 17 districts were declared flood affected and relief and rescue operations would be carried out in a more focused manner in these places, added the media report.
Speaking to reporters, the CM said the preliminary estimate of loss due to the floods has been estimated at Rs 10,000 crore. But however, he personally believed it would be somewhere between Rs 30000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore. He further stated that he had urged the Central government to release Rs 3,000 crore relief fund immediately.
About 21,431 houses and crops in 4.16 lakh hectares had been damaged in the floods, and in the wake of series of landslides, the national highway connecting Bengaluru and Mangaluru will remain closed at least till today, said PTI quoting an official report.
The flood fury is expected to ease in the next two to three days. There has been a slight reduction in the water level in the Netravati river in Dakshina Kannada district. The water level near Bantwal has reduced from 11 metres above the danger level to 9.1 metres above the danger level. In Belagavi, the Almatti dam across Krishna river had in inflow of 6.16 lakh cusecs while the outflow was 5.4 lakh cusecs.
In Narayanapura dam too, the inflow was 6 lakh cusecs and outflow was 6.11 cusecs, officials said. The world heritage site at Hampi in Ballari district too witnessed the inundation as huge amount of water was released from Tungabhadra dam.
Officials said more quantity of water would be released. People living in 10 villages, which are prone to floods, have been shifted to safety.