Flooded state calls for aid

Hyderabad residents rescue everything they can from an upturned car

The chief minister of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is calling on central government to help meet the cost of dealing with the devastating floods.

The deluge, described by Mr Chandrababu Naidu as an unprecedented calamity for his state, has so far claimed more than 120 lives.

The state capital Hyderabad has been among the areas worst hit, with 35,000 of its four million population affected and thousands of homes destroyed.

Clearing-up operations have continued during the last two days when the monsoon rains have largely held off.

But our South Asia correspondent, Mike Wooldridge, says a crack across an embankment on the outskirts of Hyderabad is causing new alarm.

Three to four hundred homes would be threatened if the embankment were to be breached.

Engineers opened floodgates, some of which have not been opened for half a century, and were monitoring the situation closely as the water level reached a peak near the top of the embankment and then began to fall slightly.

But they warned that more heavy rain could jeopardise their efforts.

In the worst affected areas of the city there was evidence of relief food being distributed.

But complaints about the way the authorities have dealt with the crisis remain common.

An assessment team from the central government has been in Hyderabad to look at the extent of the damage.

Andhra Pradesh facts

Population 78m

Coastline nearly 1,000 km long

Some 70% dependent on agriculture

Hyderabad an emerging IT centre

The state government says its operations have moved from rescue to relief and rehabilitation will come next.

Some homes in a shanty town in Hyderabad caved in, and across the state many of the deaths were caused by collapsing walls and houses.

On Wednesday, Hyderabad received over 24cm (9.5 inches) of rain in 24 hours, about one third of its average annual rainfall and the heaviest rains in 50 years.

Disease threat

Mr Naidu earlier warned of the spread of disease because some people had no access to safe drinking water, and appealed for outside help.

"We are operating relief camps in a very big way so that we want to provide food.

A road damaged by the floods in Hyderabad

Earlier in August, more than 100 people died and millions were made homeless when monsoon floods hit north-eastern India.

State infrastructure has been badly damaged across Andhra Pradesh, including the road and rail system, telecommunications, electricity supply and drinking water system.

The national highway linking Calcutta and Madras is also affected.

The worst hit districts of the state were Guntur, Kurnool, Prakasam, Khammam and Rayalaseema.

Mr Naidu admitted his government was totally unprepared for the disaster.

However, he said it would have made little difference if meteorologists had foreseen the severity of the cyclonic rains produced by a low-pressure depression which formed 100 kilometres (60 miles) off the coast.