Adding to Karnataka's troubles is the release of water from a dam in neighbouring Maharashtra

North Karnataka is struggling to cope with heavy rainfall and floods as the monsoon picked up pace in the region over the last few days. Two men were recently washed away in flood waters after heavy rain caused the Krishna river to swell.

Adding to the troubles is the release of water from a dam in neighbouring Maharashtra.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa wrote to his Maharashtra counterpart, Devendra Fadnavis, saying, "It has been observed that the state of Maharashtra has been releasing a huge amount of flood water from the Koyna reservoir into the Krishna river and its tributaries in the last few days. The outflow has gone from 20,000 cusecs to 1.25 lakh cusecs in the span of just two days."

"Due to the heavy discharge from the Maharashtra reservoir, the North Karnataka districts of Belagavi, Vijaypura, Raichur, Kalburgi, Yadgir are severely affected by the flood discharge... It is hereby requested... to regulate the flood discharge from the reservoirs of Maharashtra," the letter added.

More than 200 personnel of the Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services were on the job with boats in Belagavi, Bagalkot, Raichur and Yadgir districts. The State Disaster Response Force was also involved in efforts to help the flood-affected.

Highways in the north of the state, including NH-4, were flooded and parts of it could not be used for traffic at all. Train and bus services were also disrupted.

The Chief Minister made an aerial survey of the region on Monday.