The death toll from floods in the Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra has risen to at least 147, according to authorities, as rescue teams raced to evacuate people and waters submerged parts of a world heritage site.

Heavy rain and landslides forced hundreds of thousands of people to take shelter in relief camps, while train services were cancelled in several flood-hit areas.

In the southern state of Kerala, at least 57 people were killed in rain-related incidents while more than 165,000 were in relief camps in the state, local authorities said on Sunday.

"Several houses are still covered under 10-12 feet deep mud. This is hampering rescue work," state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

Authorities worried that rescue operations would be hit by thunderstorms and rainfall predicted in some parts of Kerala.

"People are facing a lot of problems. Water has come from all directions, water has entered all the houses," a rescued local, Ajeet Pattankudi, told Reuters News Agency.

Last year, more than 200 people were killed in Kerala and over five million were affected in one of the state's worst floods in 100 years.

Residents are being evacuated from their home to a safer place following floods warnings, on a wooden boat in Kochi [AFP]

In Karnataka, several structures at the world heritage site Hampi, an ancient town, were flooded.

So far, 60 people have died in rain-related incidents, said state chief minister BS Yediyurappa, adding nearly 227,000 people were staying in relief camps.

190810112218293

In Maharashtra, where the death toll stood at 30, the flood situation was improving, according to state-run All India Radio, though authorities said it would be difficult to restore rail services in some flood-hit areas within the next two weeks.

While Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra have been the worst hit this year, several other states including Gujarat, Assam and Bihar have also seen heavy damage due to floods.

India's main opposition Congress party on Sunday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide relief packages.

Citing media reports, the party said so far this year 446 people have been killed in six flood-hit states including Assam, Bihar and Gujarat.

"Despite the mammoth loss of lives and displacement caused due to floods, the government is failing to realize the gravity of the flood fury," it said in a statement. </s> The death toll from floods in India’s states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra rose to 95, official figures showed on Saturday, as heavy rain and landslides forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes.

Seasonal monsoon rains from June to September are a crucial lifeline for agrarian Indian society, delivering 70% of the country’s rainfall, but they also bring in their wake death and destruction every year.

“Our entire village under water for the last eight days but still we haven’t got any assistance from the government,” said farmer Prashant Lathe, 35, from a village in one of the flood-hit districts of the western state of Maharashtra.

The district has lost access to all basic amenities such as drinking water, power supply, cooking gas cylinder and petrol for running vehicles, Lathe said.

Excessively strong rains can also harm India’s farming sector, which employs nearly half of its 1.3 billion people. Lathe said his sugar cane plantation of around four acres was submerged.

In the southwestern state of Kerala, some 42 people died and over 100,000 affected people have been evacuated, the central government’s disaster management cell said, after 80 landslides hit the state in two days.

The state was opening the gates of Banasurasagar dam in Wayanad district on Saturday to manage water levels and avoid serious damage.

Last year, more than 200 people were killed and over five million affected in one of Kerala’s worst floods in 100 years. Some residents said the sudden opening of dam gates without proper warnings to those living downstream was a big factor in the devastation.

The state’s busiest airport, Cochin International Airport, closed since Friday as the taxiway was water-logged, will resume operations from 0630 GMT on Sunday, the airport management said.

In neighboring Karnataka, home to India’s tech hub Bengaluru, some 24 people have died in what chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said on Saturday were the worst floods in 45 years.

Around 1,024 villages have been inundated due to the rains, several dams were reaching their full capacity, and over 200,000 people had been evacuated, he added.

In Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai, 29 people have died this week.

The Indian Meteorological Department said heavy to very heavy rain was likely to lash isolated areas of Kerala, parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra, and some southern states might also see extremely heavy rain on Saturday.

Authorities in India are taking steps to ease difficulties faced by travelers from the Gulf to Kerala as a result of floods caused by heavy rains.

Two dozen people are reported to have been killed across Kerala from the floods and nine districts in the state are under "red alert" to prevent further loss of lives and ensure essential services.

Outside India, the most visible effects of the monsoon flooding in Kerala has been on the state’s connectivity with the Gulf. Cochin International Airport, the main gateway from Gulf countries to Kerala has been shut until Sunday afternoon.

Almost the entire air traffic by non-Indian carriers to Cochin airport are from the Gulf.

The Civil Aviation Ministry in New Delhi today directed incoming aircraft bound for Cochin to fly to two other Kerala airports: Trivandrum and Calicut.

The flights designated to take off from Cochin airport will also lift passengers from Trivandrum and Calicut instead.

Cochin International Airport Limited announced that Oman Air flights in the next three days will operate from Trivandrum instead of Cochin. Kuwait Airways flights on two days have been cancelled as did Gulf Air.

Cochin Airport said Fly Dubai and Air India flights have been shifted to Trivandrum.

Passengers travelling by some Emirates flights have been rebooked from Trivandrum. Air Asia flights for two days have been cancelled.

Most airlines have waived charges for changing travel dates or for cancelling journeys. </s> KOCHI/BENGALURU (Reuters) - The death toll from floods in India's states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra rose to 95, official figures showed on Saturday, as heavy rain and landslides forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes.

Seasonal monsoon rains from June to September are a crucial lifeline for agrarian Indian society, delivering 70% of the country's rainfall, but they also bring in their wake death and destruction every year.

Some 42 people died in southwestern Kerala and over 100,000 affected people have been evacuated, the central government's disaster management cell said, after 80 landslides hit the state in two days.

The state planned to open the gates of Banasurasagar dam in Wayanad district at 0930 GMT, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said during a news conference in the city of Kochi. Shutters of the dam were partially opened on Saturday morning to manage the water level and avoid serious damage, a senior state official of the district confirmed to Reuters.

A red alert, or severe rainfall and bad weather conditions forecast, has been issued for seven out of 14 districts in the state, the Kerala State Disaster Management control room told Reuters on Saturday.

Last year, Kerala was hit by one of its worst floods in one hundred years. More than 200 people were killed and over 5 million affected.

The state's busiest airport, Cochin International Airport, has been closed since Friday as the taxiway is water-logged. The airport is expected to reopen from Sunday as water levels had started to recede, the state body said.

In neighbouring Karnataka, home to India's tech hub Bengaluru, some 24 people have died in what chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said on Saturday were the worst floods in 45 years.

Around 1,024 villages have been inundated due to the rains, several dams were reaching their full capacity, and over 200,000 people had been evacuated, he added.

As many as 16 of the state's 30 districts have been affected by the heavy rains and 235,105 people have been evacuated and shifted to 624 relief camps, Yeddyurappa added.

In Maharashtra, home to India's financial capital Mumbai, 29 people have died this week.

The Indian Meteorological Department said on its website that heavy to very heavy rain was likely to lash isolated areas of Kerala, parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra, and some southern states might also see extremely heavy rain on Saturday. </s> BENGALURU/MUMBAI
• At least 22 people have died in the southern Indian state of Kerala after torrential monsoon rains caused landslides and flooding that cut off some areas, the authorities said yesterday.

Seasonal monsoon rains from June to September cause deaths and mass displacement across South Asia every year, but they also deliver more than 70 per cent of India's rainfall and are crucial for farm output and economic growth.

In Kerala, the disaster forced the evacuation of more than 22,000 people and the closure of Cochin International Airport, the busiest airport in the tourist state.

Located along the banks of the Periyar River, the airport will be shut until at least 5.30pm Singapore time today, although the Indian Navy has opened an airfield at a naval base for use by commercial flights, officials said.

Kerala was hit by devastating floods last August that killed more than 200 people and affected more than five million people. Those floods, dubbed the worst to hit the state in nearly a century, caused billions of dollars worth of damage to fields, homes and other infrastructure.

A few dozen people are feared trapped after a major landslide in Puthumala village in the hilly district of Wayanad.

Rescuers have recovered seven bodies, and the state government is planning to airlift rescue equipment to the area, said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, adding: "All arrangements have been put in place to deal with the disaster."

The states of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka in western India have also been hit this week by heavy rain and flooding.

Officials said at least 38 people have been killed in the states this week due to the rain and more than 200,000 have been evacuated.

Hundreds of villages and a few towns in the affected areas of Maharashtra do not have electricity and drinking water, a state government official said yesterday, and the authorities are trying to restore electricity in some areas.

Schools and colleges in many parts of western and southern India have been shut since Monday and are unlikely to open this week, the authorities have said.

Milk and vegetable supplies to India's financial hub, Mumbai, dropped significantly yesterday because many of the affected districts in Maharashtra are major suppliers.

The weather department has forecast further heavy rainfall in Kerala, and Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Kerala has been releasing water from some of its dams to avoid dam waters rising to dangerous levels like last year, the authorities said. </s> The death toll from floods in the Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra rose to 147, state authorities said on Sunday, as rescue teams raced to evacuate people and waters submerged parts of a world heritage site.

Heavy rain and landslides forced hundreds of thousands of people to take shelter in relief camps, while train services were cancelled in several flood-hit areas.

In the southern state of Kerala, at least 57 people were killed in rain-related incidents while over 165,000 people were in relief camps in the state, state authorities said on Sunday.

“Several houses are still covered under 10-12 feet deep mud. This is hampering rescue work,” state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

Authorities worried that rescue operations would be hit by thunderstorms and rainfall predicted in some parts of Kerala.

Last year, more than 200 people were killed in Kerala and over five million affected in one of worst floods in 100 years in the state.

In Karnataka, several structures at world heritage site Hampi, an ancient town, were flooded.

So far 60 people have died in rain-related incidents, said state chief minister B S Yediyurappa, adding nearly 227,000 people were staying in relief camps.

While Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra have been the worst hit this year, several other states including Gujarat, Assam and Bihar have also seen heavy damage due to floods.

In Maharashtra, where the death toll stood at 30, the flood situation was improving, according to state-run All India Radio, though authorities said it would be difficult to restore rail services in some flood-hit areas within the next two weeks.

Citing media reports, the Congress party said so far this year 446 people have been killed in six flood-hit states including Assam, Bihar and Gujarat.

“Despite the mammoth loss of lives and displacement caused due to floods, the government is failing to realize the gravity of the flood fury,” the Congress party said in a statement on Sunday. </s> KOCHI/BENGALURU — The death toll from floods in India’s states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra rose to 95, official figures showed on Saturday, as heavy rain and landslides forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes.

Seasonal monsoon rains from June to September are a crucial lifeline for agrarian Indian society, delivering 70% of the country’s rainfall, but they also bring in their wake death and destruction every year.

“Our entire village under water for the last eight days but still we haven’t got any assistance from the government,” said farmer Prashant Lathe, 35, from a village in one of the flood-hit districts of the western state of Maharashtra.

The district has lost access to all basic amenities such as drinking water, power supply, cooking gas cylinder and petrol for running vehicles, Lathe said.

Excessively strong rains can also harm India’s farming sector, which employs nearly half of its 1.3 billion people. Lathe said his sugar cane plantation of around four acres was submerged.

In the southwestern state of Kerala, some 42 people died and over 100,000 affected people have been evacuated, the central government’s disaster management cell said, after 80 landslides hit the state in two days.

The state was opening the gates of Banasurasagar dam in Wayanad district on Saturday to manage water levels and avoid serious damage.

Last year, more than 200 people were killed and over five million affected in one of Kerala’s worst floods in 100 years. Some residents said the sudden opening of dam gates without proper warnings to those living downstream was a big factor in the devastation.

The state’s busiest airport, Cochin International Airport, closed since Friday as the taxiway was water-logged, will resume operations from 0630 GMT on Sunday, the airport management said.

In neighboring Karnataka, home to India’s tech hub Bengaluru, some 24 people have died in what chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said on Saturday were the worst floods in 45 years.

Around 1,024 villages have been inundated due to the rains, several dams were reaching their full capacity, and over 200,000 people had been evacuated, he added.

In Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai, 29 people have died this week.

The Indian Meteorological Department said heavy to very heavy rain was likely to lash isolated areas of Kerala, parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra, and some southern states might also see extremely heavy rain on Saturday. (Reporting by Jose Devasia in Kochi and Gopakumar Warrier in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai Writing by Promit Mukherjee Editing by Kim Coghill and Stephen Powell) </s> At least 95 people have been killed by monsoon flooding in southern and western India, while hundreds of thousands have been evacuated from their homes, according to reports.

More than 40 of those killed were in the south-western state of Kerala.

The flooding and landslides caused by the heavy seasonal rainfall have left some areas cut off.

Officials have called on those affected to try to seek shelter on higher ground.

India is affected by monsoon rains between June and September. While crucial to replenishing water supplies, the heavy rainfall also results in death and destruction each year.
• Is India's weather becoming more extreme?

Disaster management officials said more than 100,000 people in Kerala had been evacuated into emergency relief camps, while more than 40 had been killed.

"There are around 80 places where flood and rains have triggered mudslides, which we cannot reach," state police spokesman Pramod Kumar told AFP news agency.

With the rains predicted to continue there in the coming days, the military is attempting to airlift food to stranded villages.

Last year, more than 200 people were killed in Kerala in what was described as the state's worst flooding in 100 years.

The south-western state of Karnataka and western state of Maharashtra - which is home to India's financial capital Mumbai - are also experiencing heavy rains, with dozens of fatalities reported and hundreds of thousands of people evacuated.

India's National Disaster Management Authority issued warnings on Saturday for "heavy" to "extremely heavy" rainfall in several parts of the country, as well as strong winds. </s> MUMBAI/BENGALURU (REUTERS) - Floods brought by heavy rains and overflowing rivers across large swathes of western and southern India have killed at least 33 people and forced the evacuation of 180,000 from their homes, officials said on Thursday (Aug 8).

Seasonal monsoon rains from June to September cause deaths and mass displacement across South Asia every year, but they deliver more than 70 per cent of India's rainfall, crucial for farm output and economic growth.

The tally of dead in the floods was 25 in the western state of Maharashtra by Thursday, officials said, while government data in the neighbouring southern state of Karnataka showed eight dead.

Rivers burst their banks in some parts of Maharashtra after authorities released water from dams brimming with as much as 670mm of rain received in a week.

"If we get more rainfall, then we have no option but to release water in rivers," said administrative official Deepak Mhaisekar, adding that many reservoirs around the state's industrial city of Pune were full.

A boat full of villagers trying to escape the floods capsized on Thursday, killing at least nine people, with rescuers searching for three or four still feared missing, he added.

Thousands of trucks were stuck on a national highway linking the financial capital of Mumbai with the southern technology hub of Bengaluru, as waters submerged the road in some places, Mr Mhaisekar said.

In Karnataka, officials said some major reservoirs were nearly full, and warned that nearby villages could be hit by large discharges of water.

"We have sought help from the central government to rescue any people who may get stranded because of the floods," Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa told media.

Temples and electric poles were underwater as the floods flowed unabated, in video images posted by a journalist in a northern district of Karnataka.

Weather officials have forecast heavy rain in the region, including the nearby states of Kerala and Goa, over the next three to five days.

Kerala weather officials called a "red alert" in four districts they saw at risk of receiving more than 200mm of rain on Thursday.

Schools and colleges in many places have been shut since Monday and are unlikely to open this week, authorities have said. </s> BENGALURU/MUMBAI (Reuters) - At least 28 people have died in the southern Indian state of Kerala after torrential monsoon rains caused landslides and flooding that cut off some areas, authorities said on Friday.

More than 64,000 people were evacuated and Cochin International Airport, the busiest airport in a state popular with tourists, was closed.

The airport, which is located along the banks of the Periyar river, will be shut until at least 1500 IST (0930 GMT) on Sunday, although the Indian Navy has opened an airfield at a naval base for use by commercial flights, officials said.

Seasonal monsoon rains from June to September cause deaths and mass displacement across South Asia every year but they also deliver more than 70% of India’s rainfall and are crucial for farmers.

Kerala was hit by devastating floods last August that killed more than 200 people and affected more than 5 million. Those floods, dubbed the worst to hit the state in nearly a century, caused billions of dollars of damage to fields, homes and other infrastructure.

In the latest flooding, several dozen people were feared to have been trapped after landslides in Wayanad and Malappuram districts. Rescuers have recovered seven bodies and the state government is planning to airlift rescue equipment to the area, said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Bad weather was hampering rescue operations and rescuers faced the threat of further landslides, Vijayan said.

“Casualties could go up as many people are still trapped under debris,” said an official with Kerala government, who did not want to be named.

Kerala received 155 mm (6.1 inches) of rain on Friday, ten times more than average, weather department data showed.

The neighboring state of Karnataka, and Maharashtra in the west have also been hit by heavy rains and flooding.

At least 40 people have been killed in the two states this week and more than 400,000 have been displaced as rivers burst their banks, officials said.

Thousands of trucks were stuck for more than three days on a national highway linking the financial capital of Mumbai with the southern technology hub of Bengaluru, with the road submerged in some places, a Maharashtra government official said.

Hundreds of villages and dozens of towns in the affected areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka were without electricity and drinking water, state government officials said on Friday.

Fuel was also scarce because some districts had been cut off from the rest of the state, they said.

Supplies of milk and vegetables to Mumbai dropped significantly on Friday because many of the affected districts in Maharashtra are major suppliers.

Schools and colleges in many parts of western and southern India have been shut since Monday, authorities have said.

The weather department forecast heavy rainfall in Kerala, and Maharashtra and Karnataka in the next two days.

Kerala has been releasing water from 13 dams to avoid dam waters rising to dangerous levels like last year, authorities said.
Floods hit the states of Karnataka and Kerala in India, resulting in 11 dead and 43,000 people being evacuated.