As many as 15 helicopters and about 600 army personnel have been deployed in Andhra Pradesh for rescue and relief operations in flood-hit areas.

The choppers, which will fly from Bangalore, Tirupati and Vijayawada, will also drop food and drinking water packets in the badly affected districts of Kurnool and Mahabubnagar where thousands of people are marooned for the last two days. The authorities have kept 200,000 food and water packets ready for air dropping.

The commissioner for disaster management, Mr Dinesh Kumar, told reporters on Saturday that 250 army personnel in Kurnool district, 170 in Mahabubnagar and 150 in Krishna district have taken up rescue and relief work.

The Disaster Management Response Force personnel are also rushing to the flood-hit areas from Tamil Nadu, Pune and Bhubaneswar.

The home minister, Ms P. Sabita Indra Reddy, said army personnel had reached Kurnool with 48 mechanised boats. The Kurnool town and dozens of surrounding villages are facing threat of complete submergence due to floods in the Krishna river.

The minister said 15 mechanised boats were pressed into service in Mahabubnagar district.

The Army also deployed 8 medical teams to carry out relief and rescue operations in the flood-affected districts of AP and Karnataka.

"We have deployed eight columns along with medical teams and adequate rescue equipment and materials in Kurnool and Mehboobnagar districts in Andhra Pradesh and at Bijapur in Karnataka since yesterday (Friday) to help the civil administration in relief and rescue operations," the Army officials said in New Delhi.

The local administration had sought the Defence Ministry's assistance in relief operations after the flood situation worsened, they said.

The IAF is also carrying out relief operations in the affected areas. Six helicopters were swung into action on Friday evacuating people and dropping relief material, mainly food packets.

Till Friday night, the IAF had rescued 44 people, including 12 from Bellary district in Karnataka.