CHENNAI: Even as cyclone ‘Ockhi’ battered Kanniyakumari district paralysing normal life, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday directed State ministers and senior bureaucrats, deputed as monitoring officers, to take up rescue and rehabilitation works on a war footing.
“I have ordered the district collectors of Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi to initiate necessary precautionary and relief measures in a swift manner,” he said in a statement here on Thursday.
He said senior IAS officers T K Ramachandran, Kumar Jayanth, Rajendrakumar and B Chandramohan were deputed as monitoring officers for Kanniyakumari, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Ramanathapuram districts.
Apart from these officials, ministers hailing from these districts were asked to coordinate relief and rescue operations. Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management R B Udhayakumar was dispatched to Kanniyakumari district to expedite the relief operations.
“I have ordered the officers and the ministers to take up rescue and relief operations on a war footing,” Palaniswami said adding that directors of TANGEDCO and TANTRANSCO were sent to Kanniyakumari with necessary logistics and equipment to repair and restore power supply in the affected areas.
Orders were issued to evacuate people from low-lying areas, clear water logging, organise medical camps and sanitation in order to prevent outbreak of infectious diseases, the Chief Minister said.
Explaining the steps taken to mitigate the miseries of rain-hit areas, he said there was no need to panic as the ministers and officers were directed to take all necessary action to provide relief to the people.
NDRF, SDRF teams swing into action
Meanwhile, two teams of personnel each from National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) and Tamil Nadu State Disaster Rescue Force (TNSDRF) have swung into action to rescue affected people and carry out relief operations.
According to K Satyagopal, Commissioner for revenue administration (CRA) and Relief Commissioner, “Two teams of NDRF consisting of 120 personnel and another two teams of TNSDRF comprising 140 men have been pressed into service in Kanniyakumari district.”
Minister for municipal administration and rural development S P Velumani said that an officer in the rank of Director had been deputed to coordinate officials of the departments to take up relief operations in Kanniyakumari.