Friday, September 23 2005 16:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Hyderabad: Torrential rains that battered Andhra Pradesh for the past three days have claimed 74 lives even as relief and rehabilitation works are in full swing in all the affected districts today (Sept 23, 2005).

"About 1.25 lakh people are housed in 200 relief camps spread over 10 districts and official machinery is fully geared up to handle the situation," Chief Minster Dr Y S Rajsekhar Reddy told reporters here.

West Godavari district bore the brunt with 13 deaths, followed by East Godavari and Khammam 10 each, Guntur, Warangal and Karimnagar recording seven deaths each while Nalgonda, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Mahboobnagar and Nizamabad accounting for the remaining casualties.

Relief is being provided round the clock in all relief centres and effective steps are being taken to bring the situation to normal, Reddy said adding, medical teams are touring all the affected areas to check and prevent the outbreak of any epidemic.

Brushing aside the opposition criticism that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who was at Tirupati, during the first day of rains, was not properly appraised of the situation, Reddy said Dr Singh's programme was fixed much earlier and he was given a detailed report of the gravity of situation.

The extent of damage, Reddy said is yet to be ascertained but a report on initial projections was sent to the Centre seeking immediate relief aid, he added.