Army, Navy and Airforce personnel have intensified rescue operations in the flood affected areas of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Eight MI-8 and six Chetak helicopters have been moved from the airbase in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The choppers, which have made around 60 sorties, have so far evacuated 50 persons to safer places and distributed around 22 tonnes of relief material. Our correspondents report, while 156 people lost their lives in Karnataka, 33 were killed in Andhra Pradesh, 23 in Maharashtra and two in Goa.<br/>Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has asked the Centre to declare the unprecedented rainfall and flood situation as a national calamity and release 10,000 crore rupees for relief measures. In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, he submitted details of the situation due to rainfall and floods in 14 districts of Northern Karnataka.<br/>In Andhra Pradesh, the flood situation is improving in Kurnool and Mahaboobnagar districts, even as hundreds of villages in Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda are still inundated. The state administration has stepped up rescue operations deploying over 600 Defence personnel and about 1000 swimmers with the help of Air Force helicopters and about 260 boats. The state Government has announced an exgratia of one lakh rupees to the families of victims and immediate assistance in cash and kind to the families who lost their homes. Heavy rains have also lashed the coastal and southern districts of Maharashtra .<br/>In Goa, large parts of the state are lashed with heavy rains for the third day with people remaining indoors . 250 houses have collapsed. In Kerala, flash flood has affected normal life at 6 places in Kozhikode district. Landslides were also reported at many places in the district. In Orissa, flood water is receding fast in Balasore and Bhadrak districts. But, Jalaka, Kansabansa, Sona and Budhabalanga rivers are still flowing above the danger level.<br/>Chandigarh and its surrounding areas in Punjab and Haryana experienced moderate rain this afternoon. National Capital Delhi also received rainfall. The met office has predicted rain in the region till Tuesday. Agriculture experts feel that this rain will be harmful to the standing crops. <br/>The withdrawing monsoon lashing with all its fury has taken a toll of 23 lives in Maharashtra during the last two days. 13 deaths were reported in Ratnagiri district while Solapur recorded nine and Sindhudurg one . Though the intensity of rains, which created havoc in Konkan and Eastern Maharashtra districts have lessened a bit, the flood situation in Solapur and Pandharpur continues to be grim, affecting the Mumbai-Goa national highway.<br/>Mumbai and its adjoining areas have been receiving continuous rainfall since last night. Pune and Nashik also received plenty of rain. The rain lashing Kolhapur district for last three days subsided this morning. The automatic gates of the Radhanagari dam in the district, which had opened following overflowing of the dam, closed today. The rain had led to incidents of house collapses and severely affected cultivation leading to damage of crops like groundnut and soyabean.