South

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy today announced a grant-in-aid of Rs 200 crore for relief work in districts hit by floods and landslides in the state due to incessant rains.

A six-year-old boy who had gone missing nearly a year ago from the city has been reunited with his family with the help of 'Facial Recognition System' (FRS) launched by the Telangana police.

Hundreds of troops led a desperate operation to rescue families trapped by mounting floods in Kerala today as the death toll reached 86 with dozens more feared dead.

Low-lying villages along the banks of the Cauvery river and its tributary Bhavani in Tamil Nadu were inundated and crops submerged following heavy discharge of surplus water from Mettur dam, while people were shifted to safer locations.

The flood situation in Kerala is "grave" and it is not the time to be "adversarial", the Supreme Court has told the government of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which are battling over discharge of water from Mullaperiyar Dam. Both states "must work together in harmony" the top court said.

Twelve fresh teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been rushed by the Centre today to rain-battered Kerala.

As the flood situation in Kerala is getting worse by the day, rescue and relief operation has been stepped up in the state.

As the situation worsens in Kerala after heavy rains flooded the coastal state, the Indian Air Force has deployed 18 aircraft, including 12 helicopters to airlift people stranded in flooded areas. All three defence forces and teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been diverted to Kerala to intensify rescue operations. The state has been hit with the worst monsoon in a century. Seventy three people have died over the last week, 25 of them died yesterday.

Kerala floods: Videos of people pleading for help with folded hands, are being posted and shared by hundreds of people on WhatsApp groups since last night.

Two people died on Kodagu-Mangaluru highway in a landslide this morning. Heavy rain has caused severe flooding in parts of coastal Karnataka and Kodagu district which generally receive higher rainfall than elsewhere in the state. Choppers will leave Bengaluru to airlift over 100 perople stranded in Kodagu. The Civil Defence Quick Response Team rescued about 180 people from up to 10 feet of water in Kushalnagar and Kodagu in boats on Wednesday.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi today tweeted to say he has spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the help needed for Kerala, which is reeling under the worst bout of monsoon rain in a Century. Calling it a "tragedy without parallel" Mr Gandhi said he has requested the Prime Minister to "massively increase deployment of the Army & Navy".

Congress President Rahul Gandhi today expressed concern over the flood situation in Kerala and took to Twitter to make a fervent appeal to people for help by contributing to the chief minister's relief fund.

The floods in Kerala worsening over the last 24 hours and costing the 25 more lives, the Southern Naval Command has suspended all training and rushed all available personnel to Kerala for rescue operations. The forces have been deployed in a couple of the worst-hit areas -- Ernakulum and Trichur.

Thirty people died in rain-related incidents in Kerala today despite hectic rescue work by armed forces and the NDRF and private groups in the state that's is grappling with the worst monsoon in a century. In the last 24 hours, the state received 10 times the normal rainfall. There is no relief before Saturday, the met office said. As huge swathes of the state became submerged, the Army and Navy pushed in extra troops and the Air Force extra aircraft. Since August 8, 94 people died in the state. PM Modi will visit the state today.

The public transport system collapsed in many parts of central Kerala with the Southern Railways and Kochi Metro today suspending their operations due to floods.