Andhra Pradesh blames Yeddy govt for its woes

HYDERABAD: Amid the floods that have left 33 people dead in the Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts of Andhra Pradesh came a swirl of accusations
that neighbouring Karanataka was to blame.

Officials said massive inflows from Karnataka had worsened the flooding in AP. Late on Saturday, the focus was shifting from marooned Kurnool district to downstream Krishna and Guntur districts as it seemed likely they would face the full fury of the engorged and overflowing Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers.

The official toll appeared to be a gross underestimate because the state machinery is not in place to compute numbers. There has already been an exodus from Kurnool town. Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah told

reporters on Saturday evening that he had spoken to his Karnataka counterpart B S Yeddyurappa twice during the day and been assured that the Tungabhadra and Krishna's surging waters "would be arrested" at Karnataka's reservoirs. But the promise was breached and the roiling waters continued to gush into AP.

The state government said Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts were limping back to normalcy and 3.83 lakh people were evacuated from the affected districts. Officials said 254 boats, about 1,000 divers, 550 Army personnel and six helicopters had been pressed into service. More than 200 relief camps have been set up to accommodate 2.75 lakh displaced people. Nearly four lakh food packets and another four lakh water packets were distributed. A team of 250 doctors is tending the victims.