CHENNAI: The Centre will be sending a team of officials to Tamil Nadu soon to assess the damages caused by heavy rain.
The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday that the team would be sent as soon as the memorandum on the details of rain damages was received from Tamil Nadu government.
The Chief Minister spoke to the Union Home Minister over telephone and explained the present situation in Tamil Nadu following the unprecedented rain and floods, particularly in the districts of Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Cuddalore.
During the conversation, the Chief Minister said the assessment of flood damages was done across the State and Tamil Nadu government would submit its detailed memorandum by Monday, November 23, 2015, seeking assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund and other Central Government funding .
She also requested the Union Home Minister to depute the Central team quickly to Tamil Nadu for on-the-spot assessment and recommend release of Central Assistance without delay.
The Chief Minister gave details of the precautionary steps taken by the State government and also the extensive, immediate relief and rescue efforts that was launched through teams of ministers and senior officials deputed to each flood-hit district.
She outlined how the State government agencies engaged in relief and rescue efforts, coordinating with Central government agencies including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Army, Air Force, Navy and the Coast Guard. She thanked the Union Home Minister for the assistance that was provided by the Central agencies.
After the AIADMK government assumed office in May 2011, the Central teams visited the State when cyclone Thane ravaged Cuddalore and Villupuram districts in December 2011.
A 10-member team visited these areas in the first week of January.
Later, another 10-member Central team visited Tamil Nadu in May 2013 when the entire State except Chennai district was declared drought-hit.
BJP team to visit rain ravaged dists
Chennai: A three-member BJP team, comprising Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Pon Radhakrishnan and Raju Shetti, MP from Maharashtra, will visit the rain ravaged districts in Tamil Nadu from Saturday. Party sources said the team would first visit Cuddalore followed by Kancheepuram, Chennai and Tiruvallur. It would submit a report to the party high command. BJP national president Amit Shah had already announced `1 crore for relief works in Tamil Nadu as well as Andhra Pradesh.
Aid to kin of 24 rain victims
Chennai: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday granted a financial assistance of `4 lakh each to the families of 24 persons, who had died in rain-related incidents in the districts of Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Vellore, Chennai and Kanyakumari. She also conveyed her condolences to the bereaved families.
'don't use rain mixed sump water'
Chennai: Chennai Metro Water has warned residents whose houses were inundated during the rains not to use water in their sump.“If the water collected in underground sump is mixed with rain water, the residents are advised not to use the water in the sump,” Metro Water cautioned. The available water in the underground sump should be pumped out and the sump should be emptied, a Metro Water spokesman said. The sump should be cleaned with bleaching power for storing fresh water for further use. It is also advised that the water should be boiled and used for few days, a Metro Water press release stated.