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Flood situation in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh continues to be grim with over 50 villages in Andhra Pradesh submerged in water following unprecedented flooding of the Krishna River in a century.

Flood situation in India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh improved Monday as water levels receded substantially, state Chief Minister K Rosaiah said.

Rosaiah said the outflow of water in Tungabhadra, Sunkesula, Narayanpur and Jurala projects came down substantially. At 5 pm on Oct 5, the outflows were 1.18 lakh cusecs in Tungabhdara, where the highest in the last five days was 1.96 lakh cusecs.

In Sunkesula, the outflow was 0.75 lakh cusecs, where the highest in five days was 9.80 lakh cusecs. In Srisailam dam, present inflow and outflow were 5.38 lakh cusecs and 10 lakh cusecs.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi undertook an aerial survey of the ravaged areas in Bellary district and Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who accompanied her, said the state suffered an unprecedented damage exceeding Rs 20,000 crore. Torrential rains left a trail of death and destruction in 15 districts of Karnataka damaging over two lakh houses in 1,467 villages subsided since.

Over 4.53 lakh people have been sheltered in 13,330 relief camps. A 500 m-long bridge across Tungabhadra river, 32 km from Raichur, was washed away in flood waters, officials said.

Some more facts:

- The Krishna river experienced the heaviest flood since 1903, when it had 10.30 lakh cusecs of flood waters.

- About 18 lakh people in nearly 400 villages of Andhra Pradesh have been affected by the floods.

- Economictimes.com reported that Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have reported damages of a staggering Rs 32,000 crore following unprecedented floods.

- Estimates indicate that over 1.5 lakh hectares of farmland in northern Karnataka are lying submerged, and close to 1.12 lakh hectares are marooned in Kurnool, Guntur, Cuddapah and Mehboobnagar districts in AP.

- Commodity prices may see a steep hike. The crops worst affected are chilli, cotton, paddy, maize, groundnut, jowar besides pulses like tur.

Floods are an every-year phenomenon for India. Government seems to take a reactionary approach rather than a pro-active disaster management.

Is govt's 'only relief effort approach' to tackle calamities good enough? Have your say