As rains and the resultant floods continue to wreak havoc in Karnataka, the Indian Air Force was called in to airlift people from flooded localities in north Karnataka’s Belagavi, the worst affected district in the state.
Two Mi-17 helicopters and one Chetak helicopter were deployed for the flood relief operations by the Indian Air Force. A total of 25 people have been rescued via winching from four different locations – Roggi, Halolli, Udagatti and Girdle.
“The critical winch operation was carried out to rescue people even from tree tops. An approximate 475 food packets along with drinking water was dropped in affected areas. Full scale flood relief operations are expected to continue,” IAF said in a statement.
In other parts of the state, 19 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, 2 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and 11 columns of Army have been deployed to rescue people. More than 1.5 lakh people have been evacuated from low-lying areas. More than 90,000 people have been shifted to the 467 relief camps opened in eight districts. Officials of the Indian Coast Guard, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy are also positioned in the flood affected areas.
CM BS Yediyurappa had once again carried out an aerial survey of the flood-hit regions on Friday morning.
Schools and colleges have been closed as a preventive measures in the affected districts. The state government has officially declared that nine people have died as a result of the floods even as reports of many missing emerge.
Meanwhile, KSRTC has cancelled all buses to Kozhikode, Kannur, Mahe, Vadakara, Kanhangad and Horanadu due to the heavy rains and road damage. Train services have stalled in parts of coastal and north Karnataka as tracks are submerged underwater.
Weathermen have said that the situation in coastal and central Karnataka will remain grim for the next three to four days while rain will subside in north Karnataka.