The flood situation today eased in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka which were swamped by torrential rains since last week by the receding monsoon. The death toll, however mounted to 252 with more bodies being found. There was a let up in the rains in the past two days in Karnataka giving some respite to the flood victims, large numbers of whom were now lodged in transit camps. The toll in Karnataka is 197, and around 2.5 lakh houses have either collapsed or damaged.<br/><br/>In Andhra Pradesh, the situation also showed signs of improvement but reports of flood-related deaths continued to pour in with the official toll standing at 55. <br/><br/>In Orissa, flood waters are fast receding in Baleshwar and Bhadrak district as there has been no rains in last two days.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, the Centre today assured flood-ravaged Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh that funds will not be a constraint for relief and rehabilitation and asked them to focus on providing succour to the affected people. Home Minister P Chidambaram, who visited the flood-hit areas of the two southern states, said the state governments may utilise the Calamity Relief Fund immediately.<br/><br/>The Prime Minister has expressed grief at the loss of life in the floods in the four states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. He has sanctioned an ex-gratia of one lakh rupees each from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the next of kin of those who died in the floods in these states.<br/><br/>The Communist Party of India has urged the Central Government to declare the disastrous and unprecedented floods that have wreaked havoc in some districts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka as a major National Calamity. <br/><br/>The CPI has demanded immediate relief has to be rushed to the devastated regions in both states and steps for rehabilitation have to be undertaken on war footing. Briefing media persons in New Delhi, Party General Secretary, Mr. A.B. Bardhan said, the party in Andhra Pradesh has mobilised its entire resources for rushing relief to the affected people. He said, teams of party volunteers are distributing cooked food in camps that have been set up in many districts in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.