Bengaluru: Unprecedented rainfall in Maharashtra resulted in a severe flood in Kalaburugi, which is considered as the tur dal bowl of Karnataka.
As many as 126 villages of the district are now affected by flood and over one lakh people are now taking shelter in the relief centres.
The flood reported after 8.20 lakh cusecs of water was released to the Bhima river from Sonna barrage.
According to an estimation done by the state government, 80 villages lost communication as they were filled with floodwater.
The district administration brought two helicopters for the rescue works. Adding to this, the army was summoned to join the relief works.
A total of 64 villages in Afzalpur, 12 in Kalaburugi, 28 in Jevargi and 22 villages of Chittapur and Shahabad are affected by the flood.
“CM BS Yediyurappa is holding an aerial survey on October 21 to assess the loss,” informed sources in the state government.
Many villages are still submerged in the Kalauragi, Vijayapura, Yadgir, and Raichur districts.
Over 35,000 people have been evacuated as the flood situation remains grim with the Bhima river continuing to flow above the gander mark.
“So far we have evacuated 36,290 people. We have opened 174 relief camps where 28,007 people are staying,” a Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) official said.
Meanwhile, in Bengaluru, the heavy downpour since Sunday night resulted in waterlogging in some places.
According to the India Meteorological Department, the city recorded 39.6 mm rainfall at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited based weather observatory in the 24 hour period ending 0830 am today.
(with PTI inputs)
