PUDUCHERRY: Pradesh Congress president A Namassivayam demanded that the government come clear on whether the version of Lieutenant Governor or the Chief Minister on rain damages was correct in the light of varying takes on extent of damage.
In a statement on Saturday, he said that Chief Minister N Rangasamy visited a few places and said that there was not much damage in the rains in Puducherry and subsequently the Lt Governor A K Singh visited some places and assured farmers proper compensation for their crops lost.
Stating that the Chief Minister might have visited his constituency and released the statement, Namasivayam said the government needs to make it clear which version, the version of the chief minister or the government was correct.
Stating that he had written to the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister seeking rain relief for the UT, Namassivayam demanded that the ruling AINRC government should write to the Centre and get interim relief and also to send a Central team to assess the damages caused by the rain and fix the full assistance.
Further he said that he along with AICC general secretaries Mukul Wasnik and V Narayansamy and leader of opposition V Vaithilingam visited the rain affected Thirukkanur, Kannikoil, Kirumambakkam, Bahour and Thirukkanur areas and found the damages caused in the rain as heavy. The people charged that none from the government officials came to assess the damages or to provide relief.
Namasivayam urged the administration to provide relief to the people who lost their houses and compensation to the crops lost in the rain forthwith and also to provide a solatium of `5 lakh to the family of Sundaramurthy of Ariyankuppam who was crushed to death.