Flood toll in Karnataka,AP up to 205

Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa appealed to the Centre to declare the worst flooding in the state a national disaster. He sought Rs 10,000 crore assistance for relief measures and rebuilding the 15 rain-ravaged districts.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah conducted an aerial survey of the flood-battered areas and said the situation was alarming in Krishna and Guntur districts where many villages faced inundation.

The flood situation in Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts,however,was under control,Rosaiah said.

IAF choppers dropped food packets and water sachets in the devastated areas as the officials said over 13 lakh people had been hit in five districts of the state due to the worst flooding in more than 100 years in the Krishna river basin.

In Karnataka,heavy rains and surging waters had flattened homes displacing nearly 1,77,400 people who had taken shelter in relief camps. Home Minister V S Acharya said in Bangalore the death toll was likely to mount as 21 people were feared buried under the rubble of homes destroyed in a landslide unleashed by the rains at Karwar in Uttara Kannada district.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will undertake an aerial survey of the two affected states for an assessment of the damaged caused by the natural disaster tomorrow. Chidambaram is also expected to hold meetings with the Chief Ministers of both states and other top officials in Bangalore and Hyderabad,official sources said.

The Home Ministry has allocated Rs 139.36 crore to the Calamity Relief Fund for Karnataka for 2009-10,comprising Rs 104.52 crore as Central contribution and Rs 34.84 crore as state contribution.