Bangalore, Oct 2 : Helicopters and boats were deployed Friday to rescue hundreds of people marooned in north Karnataka battered by heavy rain since Wednesday. The number of people who have died in the torrential rain has risen to 71.

According to reports reaching the state disaster management office here, the majority of deaths till Friday morning have occurred in Bijapur (23), Gulbarga (13), Raichur
(11), Koppal (10), Bagalkot (10) and Bellary (7).

The pilgrim centre of Mantralaya on the banks of the swollen Tungabhadra river in Raichur district, about 450 km from here, was submerged. Devotees planning a visit have been asked to stay away.

Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa Friday met senior civil, military and police officials here to decide the plan for rescue and relief operations in the seven affected districts.

They are Bijapur, Raichur, Bagalokot, Koppal, Belgaum, Bellary and Bidar.

The state government has released Rs. 100 crore to provide immediate relief.

At several places, gruel centres have been opened to feed the people who have lost their houses, Revenue Minister G. Karunakara Reddy told reporters late Thursday.

Unofficial reports said that at least 100 people have been killed, mostly washed away or in house collapses. The reports also put the number of houses damaged at around 15,000.

"Rescue and relief operations are in full swing in the worst-affected districts. Army troops and air force helicopters are being pressed into service to rescue the marooned and drop food packets in areas cut-off by flood waters," chief minister's media adviser R. P. Jagdish told IANS here.

"Relief material is being rushed to the areas where the situation is critical. Hundreds of people living on river banks or low-laying areas have been shifted to safer places. The families of flood victims are being given 100,000 rupees from the state's calamity relief fund," Jagdish said.

Though the southwest monsoon season, which began in June, usually withdraws from the Indian subcontinent around this time but a depression in the Bay of Bengal and heavy cloud formations in the Arabian Sea have led to heavy rain in Karnataka.(IANS)