Rangasamy to Seek Central Aid

Rangasamy to Seek Central Aid

PUDUCHERRY:  Based on the yet-to-be submitted report on the damages caused by two weeks of rain in the Union Territory, Chief Minister N Rangasamy is scheduled to write to Prime Minster Narendra Modi seeking rain relief assistance.

Talking to reporters on Monday after meeting top officials of the administration, including revenue, agriculture, animal husbandry and electricity over assessing the damage, he said the assessments have been sought from the respective department officials and that they would be compiled into a report.

He added, on the basis of the report, a letter will be sent to the Central Government seeking rain relief assistance.

Meanwhile, district Collector D Manikandan said a total of 268 houses were damaged and two persons had lost their lives in rains. He added that families of the deceased would be given `1.5 lakh each for now and the amount would be increased to `4 lakh as per the government order.

Manikandan also said that compensation would be provided for damaged houses as per the government norms.  

He told Express that according to a preliminary assessment, nearly 2,600 hectres of agriculture crops were damaged during the rain.

Manikandan said a report would be compiled and submitted to the Chief Minister in a day or two. Emphasising that the administration had taken enough precautionary measures before the opening of the Veedur Dam in the neighbouring district of Villupuram, the collector said the people on the banks of the channels were cautioned in advance.

He said there was no need for any panic. He further said that nearly 1,000 people, on the banks of the Sankarabharani river, had reached the seven relief camps and that they were provided with food packets and medicine, as per their need.

Manikandan said officials of Puducherry, Villupuram and Cuddalore were working in close co-ordination to provide relief for all the people affected in the border regions.

Meanwhile, two polytechnic students of Sellipet village were dragged away by floods before being rescued. The students, identified as Aravind and Arun went for a bath in the bed dam there. Aravind managed to hold on to a tree branch and escaped, but Arun got dragged away to some distance but he too managed to reach a shallow place and later, the public and fire service personnel rescued him.

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