After an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka last week, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced Rs.1000 crore to each state as an advance Central assistance for relief and rehabilitation measures while the Andhra Pradesh Government has sought Rs.18,600 crore and Karnataka Rs.10,000 crore of assistance from the Central Government.  Dr.Singh said further assistance would come through in accordance with the established procedures, after a Central team visits the states to assess the extent of damage.  The PM also announced an exgratia payment of Rs.1 lakh each to the families of those who have died in the floods.

With as many as 226 deaths reported and over two lakh left homeless, the Karnataka Government has been arguing that it has been hit harder by the floods but the relief measures were yet to match expectations. Moreover the state Government would like to rebuild the completely damaged houses and planning to shift 219 villages to higher planes from low-lying areas near the banks of Krishna and Tungabhadra. In Andhra Pradesh, the state and districts Governments have invited voluntary organizations to join hand with the Government to help recover and rehabilitate the flood victims. The district authorities have also opened coordination centers in the flood affected districts to coordinate the efforts of the Voluntary Organizations.