More than 200 dead in southern India floods

Oct 4, 2009, 8:16 GMT

   New Delhi - More than 200 people perished in southern and western India after three days of heavy rains led to widespread flooding, news reports said Sunday.

   The southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka saw their worst floods in 60 years. The civilian administration and armed forces were trying to rescue thousands of stranded people, state-run Doordarshan television reported.

   At least 156 people died in rain-related incidents including house collapses, mudslides and drowning in Karnataka since Friday, the television channel said, citing state officials.

   In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, there were reports of 33 deaths, but the toll could rise after water receded from submerged towns and villages, IANS news agency quoted the state's disaster management commissioner Dinesh Kumar as saying.

   In western Maharashtra state, at least 10 people died in flash floods in the Konkan region, while rail and road communication was disrupted in neighbouring Goa.

   Relief camps were set up in schools and temples located on higher ground in the flood-affected districts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to house over 400,000 people, state officials said.

   Waters were receding in Karnataka after rains eased Saturday, but there was danger of further flooding in Vijaywada and Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh as more water was released from dams upstream.

   The Indian Army, Navy and Air Force were assisting state administrations in rescue and relief work with helicopters, transport aircraft, mechanized boats and teams of naval divers.

   Officials at the National Disaster Management control room in the Indian capital said over 200,000 houses had been damaged by the floods in the two southern states.

   Large acreage of crops had been destroyed and hundreds of cattle had died. An estimate of the damage could be made only after flood waters receded, they said.

   India's annual monsoon rains often wreaks havoc causing widespread flooding as rivers and dams overflow.

   The monsoon season usually begins in June and wanes by September. Heavy cloud formation over the Arabian Sea to the west of India's southern peninsula and a depression over the Bay of Bengal in the east have caused the unusually heavy rains, according to the Meteorology Department.

   More than 1,400 people have died across 19 of India's 28 states during the monsoon rains this year.