Focus shifts to relief distribution as water recedes

Hyderabad, Oct 10 (PTI) With the flood water receding from
all towns and villages in the worst-affected districts of
India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh, the focus of Indian
government has now shifted to speedy distribution of relief
even as the victims started returning home.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made an aerial survey
for the second day Saturday and inspected flood-hit parts of
Mahbubnagar and Kurnool districts enroute to southern state of
Karnataka.
A team of officials from the Centre will visit the
affected parts of the state soon to assess the damage,
officials here said.
"We have started distributing rice in Krishna, Guntur,
Kurnool and Mahbubnagar districts. Special arrangements have
been made for providing drinking water through tankers while
additional teams of sanitation workers have been sent to
Kurnool and other towns for cleaning up the slush," an
official of the Disaster Management Department here said.
With the fear of cholera and other viral diseases high --
as most villages remained water-logged for more than five days
-- medical teams have been put on extra alert to check spread
of epidemics.
In Bandi Atmakuru in Kurnool district, there was a minor
stampede as flood victims scrambled for relief supplies
Saturday.
One person sustained injuries in the incident and police
had to use canes to bring the situation under control.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu has
thanked the Prime Minister for the Rs 1000 crore central
assistance to the state and pleaded for more funds keeping in
view the magnitude of the devastation. PTI DBV
ANU